Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earth Day: It's not just a symbol

Every April since 1970, people and organizations around the United States have celebrated or commemorated "Earth Day" on the twenty second of the month.

While the occassion has always helped promote public awareness of the need for sustainability, conservation, and environmental protection, it has also, especially in recent years, increased the practice of greenwashing.

Greenwashing could be simply defined as talking a good game about being environmentally responsible, but not walking the walk. Or, backing up talk with action for only one day - conveniently flipping on a "green switch" (so to speak), and then flipping it off twenty four hours later.

That's not what Earth Day is about.

But that's what a lot of corporations do on April 22nd. Logos turn shades of green, new environmental initiatives are often announced, press releases tout ways a corporation is supposedly reducing, reusing, or recycling.

And then there are the cute stunts - media events or unusual exercises that are meant to demonstrate concern for the environment, but only last one day.

Then it's back to business as usual.

Again, that's not what Earth Day is about. Earth Day is an opportunity to have a conversation about something we should be doing year round: making a serious effort to protect our planet.

If Earth Day is used as an occasion to unveil new environmental initiatives, those initiatives ought to have a lasting impact.

Anyone can use Earth Day as a chance to change their behavior, and embrace progressive values. But follow-through makes all of the difference. The Earth doesn't benefit if we simply go back to our old habits.

Truth is, any day is a good day to decide to start being more environmentally responsible. We at the Northwest Progressive Institute made several such changes during the course of the last year. For instance, we began using Harbor/100 exclusively for all regular printing jobs.

(Harbor/100, made locally by Grays Harbor Paper, is made from one hundred percent post-consumer content using one hundred percent certified renewable energy. It's acid free and processed without chlorine compounds).

Among some of the other things NPI staff are doing: harnessing the power of solar energy for home heating, using LED and compact flourescent bulbs for indoor lighting, taking canvas bags to the store when shopping, riding Sound Transit Express more often, and taking advantage of food waste recycling.

These are all things that are pretty easy to do.

But it takes perserverance: it's also easy to forget to do them, in part because our culture is needlessly wasteful.

I experience this every time I'm in the checkout line and I'm only buying one or two things that I can easily carry. I almost always have to refuse the plastic bag that the clerk inevitably tries to put my purchased items into.

Just think: if everybody refused plastic bags when they didn't need them, clerks might start asking if customers want a bag rather than simply assuming they will.

Another non-Earth Day innovation that comes to mind from the past year is Amazon.com's Frustration Free packaging initiative. Launched back in November, the initiative is primarily meant to make it easier for customers to open their purchases. But it also reduces waste by eliminating hard plastic clamshell casings, plastic bindings, wire ties, and other junk.

Amazon's goal is to eventually offer Frustration Free packaging with its entire catalog, a laudable objective.

If you're looking for more ways to make every day an Earth Day, you'll find a number of great suggestions in our August 2006 podcast, Tips for Living Green.

Here's to a more sunstainable future.

Comments:

Blogger WSPC Member said...

Bravo to NPI for doing your part.
I really had to shake my head this past earth day in what you call greenwashing.
My local grocer was giving away reuseable shopping bags for earth day. I thought,wow how great, till I noticed they were 'made in China'. Need I say more.

April 23, 2009 4:41 AM  

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