Not sure how you’ll get the kids to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is, after all, the Big Day. And, based on all the Earth Day-themed advertising we’ve seen lately, it’s shaping up to be another huge national extravaganza. What are you planning for YOUR Earth Day family feast?
Earth Day was “invented” back in 1969, when people still wore flowers in their hair and drove VW buses covered with plastic daisy decals and used words like “groovy” and “far out.” We had Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, man, but, like, we never celebrate Mother Earth? Bummer, man.
Not coincidentially, the inventers of Earth Day chose April 22. Lenin’s birthday. Not the former Beatle, the Marxist (Karl, not Groucho) founder of the Soviet Union. Not sure why they chose Lenin. He was better known for his eagerness to hang those who disagreed with him than recycling aluminum cans. But it’s the thought that counts.
Earth Day isn’t to be confused with Arbor Day which was started in 1872 by a guy in Nebraska who felt like the Great Plains would be a lot nicer if it had a few trees, so they set aside a day and urged every man, woman and child to plant a tree. Which is why 136 years later, nearly 99.8 percent of Nebraska is now covered with dense forestland.
For the past 39 years, Earth Day, with it’s broader “save the planet” agenda, has for the most part been largely ignored except by a select group including people who wear Birkenstock sandals, the entire citizenry of Boulder, CO, and a handful of elementary school teachers. But thanks to the global-warming-the-sky-is-a-fallin’ movement, it’s taken on a whole new energy. It is hip to be green. And that has given advertisers an opportunity to wrap themselves in the Earth Day flag and tout their green-greeniest corporate philosophy, plus promote their planet-friendly environmentally sustainable low carbon dioxide producing ever-green products…at incredible savings.
- “Home Depot bleeds orange, but is green all over!”
- “GE…we bring good things to life without spouting greenhouse gases.”
- “Make Everyday Earth Day At Pottery Barn!”
- “Miller Lite - Sustainably Great Taste…Sustainably Less Filling!”
I do love this time of year. The festive, colorful energy-saving LED and compact flourescent holiday lights, having the family gather ’round the Earth Day table, feasting on that heaping platter of hummus and deep-fried acorns. Like most Americans. this has always been one of my favorite holidays. But, ya know, the crass commercialization is really starting to take away from this special, sacred day.
It’s giving this whole “green” movement a whole different meaning.
