Earth Day was started almost 40 years ago as a wake up call to our environmental problems. There is an interesting story on Newsweek entitled “Every Day is Earth Day?” that argues it is time to give up the one-day-a-year celebration:
The first Earth Day was like the sounding of a bullhorn for the people to unite and get moving, which worked. But this year, 39 years later, the original intent has long eroded. The one-day demonstration that started a movement lost most of its luster decades ago. Yet we still have it—and that has alarming implications for our environmental progress. What was originally intended as a sounding alarm has been reproduced each year in the exact same way. The problem is, it’s hard to be motivated by a screeching alarm when you’ve been hitting the snooze button for the last four decades.
The last line of this quote makes me crazy; we’ve been hitting the snooze button since 1970! When will we wake up to the reality that we can not continue to consume the earth resources like we are at an all you can eat buffet?
I agree that people need to make this a priority every day, not just a once a year celebration. We also observed Earth Hour last month to increase awareness of our energy consumption. One day, one hour is just not enough. We all need to do our part each and every day before it is too late.
photo credit: MissFancyPants
