Earth Day Musing

The Earth, being the abode for every one of us, certainly deserves a day of celebration.  However, as Earth Day 2009 came and went and I wondered how much impact (positive or otherwise) it made on the Earth, my company organized a half-day exhibition on Earth Day with exhibitors ranging from the makers of hybrid cars to organic grocers to city government.  While the exhibitors provided factoids and information on energy usage, waste and so on, no product or idea was particularly revolutionary nor memorable.

Given the generally high awareness of environmental impacts in the Bay Area, it was unclear what incremental value if any this type of exhibition added.  The environmentally concious are probably already practicing many of the suggestions the exhibitors proposed.  For those who are not as engaged in bettering the environment, is an exhibition once a year sufficient to change behavior?  Were these individuals attracted to the underlying cause to protect the Earth and improve the environment or to the free food and drinks and the opportunity to win a prize in one of several drawings?

The fact that a number of the exhibitors distributed a large array of paper products (albeit recyclable) and traveled long distances hauling large loads to the exhibition site undoubtedly necessitated the use of a lot of energy.  But, while I am skeptical, my hope is that over the long term as more people are persuaded to behave in a more Earth-friendly manner that the cumulative positive impact will more than offset the short term efforts required to promote Earth Day.  Then, some day, Earth Day may become a thing of the past and will be celebrated every day by virtue of our actions.