Earth Day 2008

Kermit the Frog coined the phrase “its not easy being green.” He’s right!

Through out the morning already I’ve seen news casts about Earth Day, special sections in print publications about Earth Day and being “green.” I’ve seen ads touting various companies’ levels of greenness. When I worked in the Hispanic market I witnessed the same phenomenon when the 2000 census was released extolling that Hispanics were the largest minority in the U.S.

Before Hallmark or Corona take over Earth Day, like they have other holidays such as Mother’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, I want in. Maybe I can develop a corn syrup beer bottle that when you’ve finished drinking your six back you can unroll the bottles, flatten them our and have a preprinted sentiment card on the inside. Or maybe in honor of Earth Day I can develop straws that are planted standing up in the soil after use and morph into a tree.

Don’t get me wrong—I think Earth Day is an important day, but as a teenage young lady in my church said this past Sunday, “we should think about the Earth every day, not just on Earth Day.” The intent of Earth Day was just that: to spark a movement and concern about the earth. Not to spark an interest in commercialization and hijacking of another day on the calendar by big businesses looking to make a buck.

Mind you this is not a rant. It’s an observation; it’s a plea to them, to all of us.

We are asked all the time if canvas is a “green magazine?” To the questioners dismay we say NO! Green is part of who we are. It’s not what we are. We try to employ practices to the best of our ability to limit our footprint and help others limit theirs.

Every day, each of us should try to make an effort to lessen our footprint. Why? It’s a step in the right direction, and we have an obligation to do so. As much as I would like to have their Earth Day ads appear in canvas, we shouldn’t need Hallmark, Corona, or any other company to remind us about protecting the Earth, we have a moral responsibility to remind ourselves.

Happy Earth Day!

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine