We've Got a Confession For You on Earth Day
We have no idea what to make of Earth Day this year. We are questioning everything these days, including the purpose of what was once an international day of protest and action.
We have been talking about Earth Day since April Fool’s Day. What are we going to post, write, or do? How are we going to mark the occasion? We’re Earth Parade, after all. From a stop-motion animation about the Big Bang theory to an Instagram reel about the beauty of light to a beach clean-up, these were some of the ideas we had cooking, but nothing stuck. Instead, we found ourselves doing our normal thing, like looking for threatened blue scrub jays, failing, and subsequently finding an amazing juvenile bald eagle perched high on an oak tree. But the truth is, after some soul searching, we realized that we both have mixed feelings about designated days in the calendar meant to raise awareness for people, causes, or the planet.
On the one hand, it is important to highlight and celebrate the underappreciated. On the other hand, they are proof that there is some kind of deficit that needs to be overcome. Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s/Father’s Day come to mind as examples. Shouldn’t educated people in the United States already know black history? Shouldn’t lovers be more random in their acts of romance? Shouldn’t mothers and fathers always be appreciated?
Earth Day started out as a day of protest, mainly on college campuses across the USA, led by Dennis Hayes, the first-ever coordinator of Earth Day. Hayes attributes its success to this 1970s full-page ad, which ran in the New York Times, saying, “The ad issued a call to all Americans about the state of our planet. Once it ran, millions of people joined this national effort.”
But this movement wasn’t born in a vacuum. It rode in on the intellectual and literary vehicles of Rachel Carson’s 1962 “Silent Spring” and Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s The Everglades: River of Grass from 15 years earlier. It was energized by the counterculture uprisings of the 1960s, which spawned a new generation of disgruntled kids who wanted to build society from scratch. If there was a bible for this new tribe of youth, it was the Whole Earth Catalog, a magazine by Stewart Brand, whose minimalist slogan was “access to tools” but was actually cultivating a broad, new ideological framework teaching self-sufficiency, DIY, and for the first time in human history, ecology.
If there was a Mt. Sinai mass revelation-style event for this new religion, then it was Earth Day, April 22, 1970, when millions of mostly young college-aged Americans hit the streets to create change. Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson and Republican Congressman Paul McCloskey teamed up in a remarkable bipartisan effort to support Hayes with money and messaging. They were concerned mainly with clean water and air in American cities. The organizers proved that caring about the Earth was not, at least back then, a partisan issue.
The late, disgraced Republican President Richard Nixon does not get enough credit for his remarkable leadership on the environment. In 1970, smog and pollution made life in American cities unbearable. Wildlife was being decimated. Even the very symbol of America, the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), was on the verge of extinction in the United States, with fewer than 800 nesting pairs, due to habitat destruction, shooting, and the widespread use of the pesticide DDT, which caused eggshell thinning and reproductive failure. Listening to the concerns of the counterculture, who generally despised him, and scientists alike, Tricky Dick’s efforts helped bring about the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of landmark legislation like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, as well as the Endangered Species Act of 1973. “The time has come for man to make his peace with nature,” Nixon said in a message to Congress on the environment in 1972.
That juvenile eagle we saw in Florida likely would not have been born were it not for the alignment of the Earth Day counterculture with Nixon and the U.S. Congress. Thanks, in large part, to these unlikely bedfellows, DDT was banned, habitat was saved, and countless species have rebounded as a result. Today, there are more than 70,000 nesting pairs and 300,000 individual bald eagles soaring in American skies.
“Earth Day,” just like rock n roll and LSD and so many other cultural artefacts from this era, was exported successfully around the world. On its 50th anniversary, in the height of the COVID pandemic, organizers claim that over 1 billion people in 192 countries participated in Earth Day activities, making it the largest civic event in world history.
The question is, what has happened to this raw spirit of Earth Day? In the age of social media and memes, what impact is it actually making today? Has posting about Earth Day become a kind of virtue signal? These questions have been buzzing around in our minds, which may explain why we have met this day with, honestly, a bit of dread this year.
Don’t get us wrong. It’s still a net positive for the world that Earth Day exists. Though it’s difficult to measure, it’s likely that it does have some impact. We don’t doubt the impact and intentions of all the great conservationists and educators who have given their lives to further biodiversity on this planet, many of whom are participating in it.
We fear that this day of protest and action has become like another “Hallmark holiday” here in the US, at least. Sure, there are beach cleanups and celebrations, which are great. But then why is the environmental movement losing in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plastic in our environment, and habitat destruction? Why are we losing both the cultural conversation and in politics, even as the popularity of Earth Day grows each year?
There appears to be a disconnect here.
And where is the urgency? Why does it feel like some kind of hippie-dippy day of love when there is so much actually at stake? Are we actually living up to the original motto of the movement, Act or Die? For countless species whose habitats are being decimated as we type these words. For the millions of humans who will be displaced in the coming years by man-made climate change. For the billions of human beings who live with microplastics today and the tens of billions who will inherit the Earth over the next century, this binary remains true. Act or die.
It seems as though Earth Day, at best, is preaching to the converted and, at worst, has become an annual greenwashing event for brands like BP, Coca-Cola, and countless others who are trying to masquerade as eco-friendly when, in fact, environmental exploitation is baked into their business model. It may still be a good thing that brands are putting forward climate or nature-friendly content. But where’s the accountability in terms of actions? Why aren’t more corporate values/charters adjusted to reflect Earth as a priority? How can you call yourself “green” for one day a year and get away with it?
Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” campaign from 2018 is a case study in corporate greenwashing. It’s a nice vision, especially since Coca-Cola is the world’s worst plastic polluter. In its campaign, the company worth more than $300B says it aims to collect and recycle every bottle by 2030, but then as we got into 2024, Coca Cola rolled back its sustainability goals and timeline. How convenient. Unfortunately, this is a bogus and empty promise as microplastics continue to ravage the air, sea, and even our own bodies.
As the vibe has shifted towards MAGA in the US, we imagine there may be fewer companies pretending to be environmentally conscious this year, which is actually fine. If you’re plundering the Earth for greater profit, we’d prefer you to just be honest about it. And for those who are still trying to pretend to be prioritizing planet over profit, here’s a direct question, not for the marketing departments, but for the stakeholders, board of directors, and CEOs:
Do you actually care about the Earth?
If so, where’s the proof? Where are the actions that go beyond this performative “day of loving the Earth”? If you have influence over a company, can you permanently and irrevocably incorporate the values of prioritizing planet over profit into your charter? Patagonia did it. Many more are doing it. As anyone who has read The Lorax will tell you, this is in your best long-term interests as well.
The conflict between humanity and biodiversity is as grave as it’s ever been. And like most of the conflicts here on Earth, it is the result of choices we humans make! Where to develop the next city? Where to extract resources like oil, gold, lithium, lumber, lobsters, and more, the list goes on. And who makes the money? Like the recent decision by President Trump to open up a large portion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument for commercial fishing, every decision has its consequences. There will no doubt be a short-term economic benefit for some, but what about the sustainability of the fisheries in the long run?
The risk is that it leads to a longer-term system-level failure. This means that there will be no fish for anyone because, without sufficient regulations, the populations of fish can be decimated. And if you ask any marine biologist, and even the fishing groups who have a long-term stake in the fishery, they will tell you that keeping areas of protected reserve is critical for sustainable fishery management because it ensures they have the chance to spawn and essentially regenerate the species. And so it is possible that this executive proclamation may just lead to the opening scene of a tragedy of the commons in the Pacific Ocean.
For many years, we have been thinking about and prioritizing nature and conservation in our decisions and values as a family. We are not talking about recycling or turning off the lights. We’re talking about a fundamental way of seeing the world, how we educate our children, who we vote for, what we buy, who we donate to, and where we live. We recognize that it will take a massive cultural shift for more people, especially leaders, to do the same. We are also far from perfect. We don’t always compost, and we mix recycling with trash after rowdy BBQs. Our kids sometimes squeeze lizards a bit too hard when they grab them.
But we felt that this year, 2025, we wanted to do more to help in our own little way. Earth Parade is the result of that. We view it as a long-term project for our family, a way of life. So this year, for Earth Day, with all that’s at stake right now, we want to ask ourselves and everyone to dig a bit deeper and ask ourselves a question: “Why does planet Earth matter to you?”
Here is what we came up with:
We recognize there’s a lot going on in politics, economics, and culture wars right now. It’s hard to think about nature when the 401k is teetering on the edge and there’s a mass shooting every other day. But maybe this is exactly the time for you to reintegrate with the outdoors in some capacity. It is a way to connect back to oneself, and puts all the craziness of the world into the correct prism. In short, science confirms that being outdoors in nature is good for the human condition. So go do it, and take your kids with you, since it turns out they need it more than we adults do. Hike, bike, camp, raft, swim, surf, lie on your back on the dirt or grass, and stare at the clouds…these all count.
And then, when you vote or when you purchase, think about the things you need in order to make these activities special. The lush landscapes, the clean rivers, the ocean, the sky, and the wildlife are becoming less and less as human beings permanently change the face of the Earth and the composition of the oceans. How do we turn the tide?
In many ways, we feel powerless today. But this moment will not last. Perhaps this is the crowning achievement of Earth Day. The fact that it’s endured and grown against all odds. A reminder that administrations and cultural movements come and go, but Earth remains. So maybe this is the lesson and the point of this post. The time to make grand, long-term, earth-denting plans is now. Start small and humbly. Do something that feels attainable and is in your control. The seeds we plant today may bear fruit at some point in the future, but only if we plant them now. So let’s protest, or celebrate, today, but in the famous words first bellowed by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.” It’s the days, months, and years after Earth Day that matter most.