It’s Sunday and hey, in case you haven’t crawled out from under your rock for the past month, Earth Day is this Tuesday. Can you believe it? Wow! It really snuck up on us. Not a word from the media. I am really surprised that manufacturers haven’t jumped on the boat to support Earth Day and go “green”. It’s such a great opportunity to reach out to their consumer base to help change the world with selfless ambition (Can ambition ever really be selfless?). I am really surprised that people have missed the boat on this.
Touch the screen….is it dripping with sarcasm?
I have to say that I can NOT take it anymore. I don’t even know what to write about on my green blog. I am so overloaded with the same info over and over and over again. Use reusable tote bags for shopping, switch your light bulbs, blah blah blah. Does anybody have any new ideas?
Everybody has gone “Green”. Even Clorox. How many Clorox “Green Works” commercials have you seen this past week? Funny thing, Clorox, if you really are interested in saving the planet, why don’t you stop making things with bleach? I am sure that they are just wanting to sweeten the honey after scarfing up Burt’s Bees.
How about Walmart? I wonder if they gave their workers around the world some of the 1 million reusable shopping bags passed out this weekend so that they could carry their only belongings around because they can’t afford a home. It’s great that they want to be viewed as Earth friendly…how about people friendly? And is anyone checking to see how all these reusable shopping bags are produced? I am sure that everybody is using 100% cotton or another organic fiber because it’s so cheap and would really enhance the profit margin.
I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a little bit of “green washing” going on around here. It’s driving me crazy. Big Binder even told me she almost bought some Campbells soup because it said it was green. You know how green it was? The container was recyclable. No kidding?? Soup cans…recyclable. Now that’s a novel idea that no one has thought of before. I am hitting my head on the top of my laptop screen right now. Corporate America is so ridiculous to me. Are there any “honest Abes” out there? Are there any true idealists who will not bend to the almight dollar?
Hmmm…..how will we weed out the bad seeds? Terrachoice offers a great little list as to how to spot some green washing. There are other ways to detect who is a sell out and who is the real deal. We will touch on those at a later time after my head is healed and my blood pressure has returned to normal.
Many are talking that “Earth Day is the new Christmas.” Check out these 2 articles for examples: here and here. I am calling many of these corporations who tout “green” savings and Earth day specials as “Sunday Environmentalists”. It’s a spin off of the “Sunday Christian“. You know the people who go to church on Sunday but then go off and do random acts of sin without thought or concern throughout the week? Well, these really smart corporations (and let’s face it, it is smart for their pocketbook) are one in the same with the environment. For one day, they will give your reusable bags, show you billboards of the great green Earth with their logo on it, or hand you flyers with their latest sales on crap printed on recycled paper just to get you through their doors and purchase any item earth friendly or not. Then come April 23 or maybe May 1, the tide will change for the next big sale. Next thing you know, all the leftover ads and printed material screaming that they are saving the Earth are tossed out and discarded for Memorial Day specials. And we begin again with the next biggest cause until Earth Day 2009.
My one hope for Earth Day this year (and yes, I did take an online personality test at www.personalityzone.com and it said I was a full fledged idealist.) is that people will at least stop and think. Then everyone on earth will hold hands, sing songs, and begin to do something that is kind to our environment every day all year long. I will then have to create a new term. I am tossing around “MEEP: My Everyday Earth Partner”. More on that to come.
So how do you make Earth Day, Every day? Here is just one list of things you can easily do to really make a difference. Take care my MEEPs!
April 21, 2008 at 3:09 am
[…] that you joined me for my first post on becoming a MEEP (My Everyday Earth Partner as explained here). We have a great group going! So far, it’s just me and my cat. We really need your […]
April 21, 2008 at 3:13 am
Not to add more punch to your punching bag – but did you know that even Windex’s Greenlist listing doesn’t necessarily make them green? We make fun of their commercials every time we see them.
April 21, 2008 at 8:56 am
hope your head is healing! Gotta love the free bags for re-use on sunday only. Earth day is TUESDAY??? Ad for a place that I saw said for first —customers–then too bad I guess! So friendly indeed.
April 21, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Whoa there girlie! I didn’t almost buy that soup because it was recyclable – I almost bought it because it was ridiculous. I make my own soup from scratch, thank you very much 🙂
I do like your idea of buying less crap in your other post. I’m a big fan of less crap. It helps to have a tiny house and a 1 stall garage.
April 22, 2008 at 12:57 am
Did anyone else start hearing John Lennon songs while reading this post?
April 24, 2008 at 8:34 am
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April 30, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Yes!! Can I be a MEEP?
I hate how it’s become hip to be green, so the market has taken notice and BS’d their way into being “green” as well, it’s such a courtesy nod. What about actually aggressively working towards a sustainable future rather than adding just another marketing ploy to the pile? Cradle to Cradle, anyone?
Love your blog 🙂