Earth Protect Blog

April 22 marks the 42^nd annual Earth Day observance. In recent years, the week running up to Earth Day has become increasingly filled with a riotous mix of news that ranges from inspired initiatives to thinly veiled partisanship and shameless exploitation. As a journalist who covers energy, environment and sustainability issues, I get many of these pronouncements sent directly to me, and others just scream out as I look for interesting stories. Here, for your reading pleasure and horror, are some of the most notable and notorious events and declarations linked to Earth Day. I’m sure you’ll see more—and if you want people to know about them, add a link in the Comments section below.

MOST USEFUL:  E-Waste that Works

This new program is truly useful to anyone who owns anything electronic. We are often told we should recycle computers and such because they contain valuable, and toxic, materials. But few places will take your old Mac or PC, or printer, and you usually have to pay to get rid of the e-waste. No more. In recognition of Earth Day, computer maker Hewlett-Packard and office-supply chain Staples have announced that anyone can bring electronics into any Staples store and leave them there for recycling—for free. The stores will take any brand, regardless of where the device was purchased. The program will continue for two years and includes desktops, laptops, faxes, printers, desktop copiers, computer monitors, keyboard, phones, mobile phones, digital cameras and more. Not included are televisions, appliances or batteries.

MOST BLATANTLY COMMERCIAL:  simpleFLOORS

The company simpleFLOORS makes bamboo flooring. The product might be environmentally smart, but the company clearly put “Earth Day 2012” in its online marketing page purely for “search engine optimization”—trying to get its name to come up at the top of online search results. The company’s Web site has nothing to do with Earth Day. SimpleFLOORS doesn’t even offer a coupon or discount for buying some bamboo on that day. Shameless, and ironically so, considering the product could do the earth some good—if it’s harvested and processed in clean ways, which is not the case with all bamboo operations.

MOST RIDICULOUS HEADLINE:  The Washington Post

“Earth Day 2012 Comes to Capitol Hill; Capitals Have Toughness to Beat the Bruins.” What does a hockey game have to do with Earth Day? Nothing. But theWashington Post’s online hype page, “The Buzz,” managed to link them—despite the different (but correct) spellings of “capital.”

MOST UNUSUAL MOVIE DEBUT:  One Day on Earth

On October 10, 2010—that’s right, 10-10-10—videographers in every country of the world filmed human triumphs and tragedies that were occurring in their regions on that day. They formed a global group called One Day on Earth and weaved 3,000 hours of footage into a movie that will debut worldwide on April 22. The screeningwill take place in hundreds of theaters in dozens of nations and should get distributed more widely from there. The organizers say the film creates “a picture of interconnected humanity never before possible.” Filmmakers also took to the streets on 11-11-11 and will release a second movie sometime in the future; ideally, we’ll all be able to see that one online.

MOST COMPETITIVE:  MobilizeU

For the month leading up to Earth Day, students at 284 universities in 48 countries have been competing to engage the most fellow students in as many “acts of green” as possible—everything from writing down personal act-of-green pledges to leading community clean-ups, expanding environmental initiatives already underway at their schools and yes, organizing major Earth Day events. The competition tracks the numbers of students involved. The early leaderboard is quite intriguing: 1. Russia State University of the Ministry of Finance 2. Oregon State University 3. University of the Free State {South Africa) 4. SV National Institute of Technology, Surat 5. University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

MOST POMP FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES:  Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University holds its spring graduation very early: April 28 this year. Because the date is so close to Earth Day, the school’s grads will don caps and gowns made from recycled plastic water bottles. Evidently, 27 bottles make one gown.

MOST HIP:  Earth Day Rally, Washington, D.C.

I know these events can be dubious (and they create a lot of garbage), but they can also mobilize many people to do good. The April 22 concert, from noon to 7:00 p.m. on the National Mall, will include Cheap Trick, Dave Mason, Kicking Daisies and The Explorers Club. In between, leaders such as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and  Massachusetts representative Edward Markey, a long-time environmental champion, will speak. If you can’t make it to D.C., then catch the live stream of the entire event at www.earthday.org.

MOST MUIR:  The Wisdom of John Muir

Okay, this category could only have one entrant, but it might offer a nice idea for kicking back on Earth Day. Wilderness Press has released The Wisdom of John Muir, a book by Anne Rowthorn that gathers some of Muir’s famous writings as well as lesser-known letters and journal entries. Muir founded the Sierra Club and is considered America’s most ardent defender of wild areas. In 1903 the naturalist took President Theodore Roosevelt on a three-day camping trip in Yosemite, after which Roosevelt proceeded to establish 148 million acres of national forest, five national parks and 23 national monuments.

MOST WACKY EDITORIAL:  The Olympian

On April 18, The Olympian newspaper in Washington State published a piece titled “Earth Day’s Environmental ‘Religion’” by Robert H. Nelson. A few passages say it all:

“With Earth Day fast approaching (April 22), Americans might want to consider how environmentalism is becoming a new form of religion. They also might want to ask: Why is it OK to teach environmental religion in public schools, while the teaching of Judaism, Christianity and other traditional religions is not constitutionally permitted?… Environmentalism has, indeed, become an article of religious faith. As Joel Garreau, a former Washington Post editor, wrote in 2010, ‘faith-based environmentalism increasingly sports saints, sins, prophets, predictions, heretics, sacraments and rituals.’…”

Nelson continued on. I won’t. The article was syndicated by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, so I assume it was picked up by other news outlets, although I hope not.

MOST HIDDEN AGENDA:  Sacramento Bee

The headline of an April 17 editorial in California’s Sacramento Bee says “Earth Day 2012: The Overriding Issue of Overpopulation!” Okay, that sounds sensible. The editorial begins with a quote from Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson, who created the first Earth Day in 1970 and stated on its inauguration that “”every environmental problem is a population problem.”

Alright, they’ve still got me. But reading further, I suddenly find the following passage: “Since the first Earth Day, the U.S. population has grown from 203 million to 312 million, and is projected to soar to over half a billion by the century’s end. However, unlike the situation in 1970, two-thirds of today’s U.S. population growth is from immigration, according to the Census Bureau.”

Wait, what?! The piece continues: “While many current environmental leaders shy away from the issue, conservation icons such as David Brower, a Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) Advisory Board member, and Nelson were clear that reduced immigration was an essential component of creating a sustainable environment.” The article then quotes the CAPS chairperson, Marilyn DeYoung, saying: “The message this Earth Day should be about getting back to the basic environmental issues. We need less consumption, lower fertility rates, and reduced immigration.”

Um, sustainability is a global challenge. If “those immigrants” don’t make it into the U.S. they’ll be living somewhere else. I guess that is CAPS’s way of exporting environmental problems, along with those pesky people.

[For more Earth Day 2012 coverage, see our In-Depth Report.]