You have to start somewhere, sure, but after more than two decades of a single day used for this cause and not nearly as many folks concerned about the home they live on as there should be, it’s high past time to take action.
Every Earth Day, I see the same trendy “Ways to Save the Earth in Five Minutes or Less!” articles, speeches, and other pieces of media that don’t mean jack. Hell, I’ve written some myself, I’m sure. As important as recycling, not using plastic shopping bags, and even composting are, they’re things we all should have been doing for a long time now. As guilty as I feel when I forget my reusable shopping bags when we go grocery shopping, I feel worse seeing the plastic bags still available when they’ve in fact been discontinued in other countries.
What is wrong with us that makes us so blind to the crisis we face as humans on this planet we’ve been so carelessly destroying? I once had a geology professor tell me not to worry about the planet; it was here long before we were and it will be here long after we are gone. It is us we need to worry about.
I agree with her. But I also think we’re wiping out other species at an alarming rate and calling it “natural selection” to feel better about it. (I don’t think natural selection has much to do with the combustion engine, drilling for oil, or any other human activities.) I think we’re rapidly bringing forth our own extinction, and in the process making the future that much more difficult to bear for our children and theirs. Why continue producing children at such an alarming rate—many families opting for four or more, even—when you destroy the home that they will be left with even faster?
All I mean to say is that we need to stop with the quick fixes and start really bucking down. I read that the MPG quota for new cars is going up soon—that’s nice, but that’s decades past due. We don’t need vehicles that run on oil anymore; we need clean energy yesterday. The same goes with everything from tires to trash bags—it’s past time to kick the habit. It’s also time to make growing our own food, buying locally, using solar power, and so many more important choices simply a part of our daily lives. Until they’re de-labeled as “hippie culture” or “activism lifestyles” and made simply a part of the human experience, we’re not really going anywhere with this whole Earth Day thing.