Earth Day is Every Day

Today is Earth Day, and I have a confession to make.

I am not a fan of Earth Day.

I feel the same way about Earth Day that I do about Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Why do we need to set aside a specific date? Tell your loved ones you love them, every day. Do something to show Mom ( and Dad!) you appreciate her, every day. Take care of your earth, every day.

Don’t wait until the “day” arrives and then perform a token action, buy a token thing, and then pat yourself on the back for being such a good spouse, good son or daughter, good environmentalist.

Earth Day has become what these other days have become- an opportunity for someone to sell you something. Today I received six different emails letting me know what items I can buy to help me sustain my green lifestyle. Every magazine out there has articles about how to “go green”, full of products I didn’t even know existed, that quite apparently I need to seal my status as a good hippie. That’s presumably after I’ve already broken down and paid for the magazine itself, of course.

Yes, of course I am guilty of purchasing things to help us go greener. There are lots of great products that I love, use every day, and will recommend some other time. And I do try to wield my consumer dollar responsibly. But I feel that at some point, the focus shifted from saving the earth to how to be a green consumer– am I the only one who feels this way?

That being said, I do appreciate that Earth Day is a good opportunity for promoting awareness. Perhaps it also acts as a motivational tool for some people to become involved that otherwise would not; much like a eco-conscious New Year’s resolution.

But truly, every day is Earth Day.

Every day, with every action, every purchase, every deed, we should strive to make our earth a better place. Really, I feel silly even pointing out something so basic.