Tomorrow, you'll be blasted from all corners with Earth Day hype. Radio, tv, newspapers, and the internet will all be teaming with advice, guilt, fear-mongering and just about anything else that works so that they'll feel like they've done their bit to be at the leading edge of the environmental movement.
And whether it's the radio person showing up in their hot logo-d SUV at the groundbreaking for the new Green library branch in Calvin Park; or the TV mobile truck idling incessantly out front of City Hall or the tons and tons of colourful inserts in the local paper, or even the ridiculous over-packaging of yet another should-I-try-to-recycle-this-thing-when-its-obsolete? modem...it will all just prove how the media, as usual, will have you thinking that we created the entire environmental movement.
NBC is "green" all this week. Good for them. The paper here has a new "green" column that pops up several times a week. Love it! My own radio station and it's cluster jumps in every year with Pitch In Kingston, to do our bit to clean the city. Yay us!
I just wonder if the desired effect is happening, or are we in the media just making ourselves feel better by preaching a "tough" message to our users.
The roads are littered with crap that didn't have to be thrown there. Our city still dumps raw sewage into the lake and river. Gas prices are out of control, but talk to anyone and they'll tell you how "it's not like you can get by without driving."
I saw someone driving a Prius throw something from their window the other day. My family throws organic stuff in the garbage when the composter is just 30 metres from the house. We all drive buy junk laying beside the road...and keep on driving.
Tomorrow we'll all be talking a good game.
How many of us will actually have the guts to take things one step further...change our bad habits, and save this planet?
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