As much as I truly love my home planet, I absolutely hate Earth Day.
According to the official website of this day, earthday.org, Planet vs. Plastics is the 2024 theme “demanding a 60% reduction of ALL plastics by 2040.” Apparently in order to accomplish this, the suggestion is that humanity must “rapidly phase out all single use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and call for an end to fast fashion.” Our species also must be “investing in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world.”
Their call to action is to “commit to reducing your use of single-use plastics in your daily life. Say no to plastic bags, straws, water bottles, and other disposable items. Seek sustainable alternatives instead. You can try this lifestyle change in any period of time - a day, a week or as long as you want to keep challenging yourself.”
Of course there are Earth Day posters you can order, and petitions you can sign, but first be sure to hit the Donate button.
Did I say I hate Earth Day?
Digging deep into the earthday.org website, one can find the only useful words on the whole site in this Fact Sheet: Global Species Decline “The world is facing a mass extinction of species. All species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods (insects and arachnids), fish, crustaceans, corals and other cnidarians, and plants have declined, in many cases, severely. Human civilization has had a negative impact on most living things.”
So be sure you don’t use a plastic straw.
I remember back in the 2010’s I thought I was doing my part by playing along in The Purity Test game. I signed lots of petitions. I shopped “green” and “fair trade” scrutinizing labels for toxic contents and country of origin. I battled local grocery stores to allow me to bring in my own containers for bulk bin goods. Jordan and I rode our bikes to Costco, him pulling a trailer for bringing the consciously selected products home. We bought organic food at local farmer’s markets, and ethically scrutinized all protein sources. I brought our own silverware and dishes in a basket to parties and events where I suspected we’d otherwise be offered disposable plates and cutlery (much to my kids’ deep embarrassment) . I gave everyone I knew reusable water bottles as gifts. I stopped flying in 2010...I could go on and on.
The more I dove in, the more I felt my green super cape flowing behind me. I also felt superior to the ignorant consumer masses, finding opportunities to shame and blame them at every turn. I pushed those closest to me to get their green capes on too (mostly this just pushed people away).
In 2012 at the ages of 44, we quit our jobs, cashed out our retirement accounts (refusing to be invested in any of the corporations making it all worse), purchased a very distressed home with a bit of acreage in the woods, got rid of the propane and all major appliances, lived without on demand hot water for 6 months, built a permaculture farm, had our kids walk 20 minutes home from school…again, I could go on and on.
We’ve never once passed The Purity Test.
Life in GIC (Global Industrial Civilization) ensures no one can pass it. Each day every one of us is contributing to making everything collectively worse, no matter what. It’s one of the big bitter pills to have to swallow in coming to terms with our predicament. It’s why I included it in the #8 Benefit of Collapse Acceptance: Super Hero Release - good riddance to pressure and guilt - don’t have to fix it, solve it, fight it, save it. No purity test to pass - hooray!
And it’s also tangentially included in Benefit #14: Letting Go - of control, worry, fear, blame, shame, legacy, dreams, expectations - No need to sweat the small stuff…or any of the big stuff. It’s really important to stop holding ourselves and others to an impossible standard no one can achieve. All that does is create more suffering.
Again, no one can pass The Purity Test.
More from the earthday.org Global Species Decline Fact Sheet: “We are currently living through a mass extinction event, the largest known. The speed with which mass extinction has onset appears to be the result of human activity. Scientists estimate that we are losing 10,000 times more species per year than the normal rate.” The message is clear, despite some of the dishonest wording: “living through” as if there is something on the other side and doesn’t somehow include our species (both impossible). Also “appears to be”, as if there is any confusion at this point what is responsible (there isn’t).
The mainstream environmental movement is responsible for participating in making everything worse by dumbing down the true radicalness of our predicament. The delusional messaging lulls and numbs out the possibility for wise responses in support of simplistic false solutions. Fostering lies and offering hope when there is none is abusive, and it piles on top of all the rest of the community of life that is suffocating under the weighty hubris. It is definitely nothing to celebrate.
I state in my Tenet of GRAC/E (Getting Real About Collapse/Extinction) #6: Nature is primary. Period. No more humans first. Making amends to the rest of the community of life, while attempting to clean up the mess, needs to be a daily life way. Every day is earth day.
Even when it means we can’t pass the test.
A “Making Amends” video of Dam Removal on the Klamath River