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TechnoratiAs Corporate Sponsors Mount, Some Activists Believe the Charity Strayed from Its Purpose
It was one of the original green movements in Canada, created by environmental activists who had spent their lives protesting big companies that harmed the planet.
Today, Earth Day Canada is a registered charity that relies mostly on money from large corporations.
Founded in 1990, the charity encouraged ordinary Canadians to clear garbage from their communities as a means of understanding the earth's fragility. Today, environmental awareness has blossomed.
Children speak of atmospheric carbon dioxide while lecturing their parents on the evils of the family SUV. Millions of Canadians turned off their lights during Earth Hour. And, corporations send out daily press releases advertising their commitment to green-ness.
Today, as Earth Day Canada marks its official date for the environmental inspiration of Canadians, a certain question begs for an answer: Is it still relevant?
Glen MacIntosh says no.
MacIntosh, spokesperson for the Toronto Climate Campaign, organized a downtown Toronto protest on Sunday, naming it "Reclaim Earth Day." The coalition of unions and social justice organizations take particular offence to Earth Day's sponsorship by corporations. The Earth Day website says Sunoco and the Suncor Energy Foundation sponsored the tree-planting events that unfolded over the weekend.
"The original Earth Day didn't have that. It was mobilized by activists with a point to make change," MacIntosh said.
"People are being deceived. They attend the Earth Day events thinking they are doing a good thing, but really they are being entertained, sold to."
"That is their take," responded Jed Goldberg, president of Earth Day Canada.
"None of our donors has any input whatsoever into our programming, communications, marketing. Nothing. These are our programs. They choose to support them because they feel we are effective, but they have no impact at all in the way we conduct ourselves."
Rules surrounding registered charities like Earth Day, explains Goldberg, preclude the organization from lobbying politicians.
"There is obviously an important place for activism in any kind of social justice movement," Goldberg said. "As far as I am concerned, it is quite healthy for them to have their type of event."
Earth Day Canada, said Goldberg, has evolved from its early days creating community awareness. Today, 80 per cent of its work goes into education, primarily a website that gives tips on reducing energy use, with an online calculator to add up those savings.
There is a finite number of energy-saving tips - using cold water for laundry, buying locally grown food and using transit. Earth Day's current raison d'être shares the same tips found on every other energy-saving website.
Goldberg, however, calls the program's calculator, which measures the dollars saved for each step taken in the "Eco-Action plan," innovative. The organization has spent $400,000 developing the program. It is found on the Earth Day website, but is also promoted on three municipal websites -Waterloo; Moncton N.B.; and Grand Prairie, Alta., with plans to expand.
"We've tried to evolve our programming. It is no longer just a celebratory day. It's not "Rah, rah, let's go plant some trees.' ... We have a program where we engage individuals and lead them through the process of minimizing the impact of how they live in their home."
Maury Mason was one of the founders of Canada's Earth Day, spending the first part of his career with Greenpeace Canada as an activist pushing governments and corporation for environmental change. "There is a value in getting people excited about something. It is a pathway to action," said Mason, who hired Goldberg as his replacement in 1993.
"An inspired, educated and committed person cannot help but act. If the main purpose (of Earth Day) is to create the first step of inspiration ... great. People will move it further," he said.
"Industry and business have to respond to that, otherwise they will be left behind."
City councillor Adam Vaughan threw his support behind the Toronto Climate Campaign, and its desire to push hard for the Kyoto agreement. Still, Vaughan says Earth Day creates no harm.
"The way you grow a movement is, you accommodate the clash of ideas. And hopefully, the movement gets bigger and bigger and you succeed on many more fronts. It is not either-or. I think it is both."
At the University of Toronto, Ingrid Leman Stefanovic has watched the green movement evolve for the past 20 years. Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies, she likens Earth Day to a birthday, a marker to "a time to stop and collectively recognize a testimonial to an idea."
"There are gigantic problems that we have to address. At the same time, it is important that we focus on successes ... There is an urgency, but rather than making people feel negative, we can instill some hope.
"Whether it is Earth Day, or turning off your lights for an hour, no one action is going to be earth-shattering. These kinds of moments simply remind people that you have to be a little more careful, and caring, of the planet."
© 2008 Toronto Star
13 Comments so far
Show AllThere are three castes of environmental organizations. On the top are corporate-funded groups. They'll do something or other useful under threat of ridicule.
Then below the middle class environmental organizations (heavy on global warming) is the environmental justice movement, basically people that have been poisoned in some way by toxic waste. I wish the middle class and sickened groups talked to each other extensively. For reasons of effectiveness we don't want race and class to be a wedge here.
Poet: midnight dumping doesn't work in the videocam age.
I spent the afternoon at the river cleaning and walking and breathing. People need to take back the wild places. The marshes so wet even the most ambitious developers will never build on some lands and people are getting together and taking back the rivers and parks that have been trashed and then abandoned and now families are coming out and it is The best place for the kids to reconnect with the wild nature in their own town or city. These kids know the directions on a compass, several species of birds and how to identify edible and healing plants..and so much more. My son had a choice of soccer or river clean-up and the river was what he wanted. ALl the nature time many kids get is when playing competetive sports. Ruthru, you need to get out more. Peace peeps. I know the outlook is grim, but weve got so much still as damaged and fragile as it is, lets cohabitate peacefully like the birds and the squirrels (just to leave you all with a happy image.)
too little too late
Earth day in America is completely irrelevant, not only has corporate sponsors hijacked the event, the masses simply don't get the same kick out of planting trees or cleaning a park as they once did.
The activists and the "doers" need to be reinvigorated.
-James
www.thepoliticus.org
Short answer: No!
Longer answer: Americans, most westerners in developed countries, don't recognize the devastation of their actions until the problems they have created strips them of their material possessions and makes them uncomfortable. 18 years later and Earth Day is still being addressed as if it was Mother's Day. A day where you show your mother you love her when you should be doing it everyday. The balance has been upset and all we have taken for granted will dissolve before our eyes because we failed to act. The birds and the bees will be the first to go and the human population will dwindle as well until the balance is regained. This planet is our teacher and she is about to show us a lesson we are going to try to forget.
From a local produce buying, car-less, ethical vegan cyclist. There is more to earth day than recycling, you have to make a change to protect all Earthlings - View here Google video. Watch it if you dare...
Good Luck wonders:
the dump wants 5$ a tire to recycle them, I have some tires I used under a boat I sold. Do I pay the 50$, that I feel is to high? At those prices it makes it hard to be green. Or dump them in the back field for the next 1000 year.
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Not to worry--load them up and go by any tire store between 2 and 4 AM and just leave them by the front door. They'll get disposed of properly and you won't be out the $50.
For bateries, save them up till you get a moderate sized box full and send them to Eveready, Duracell, or whoever for similar disposal. (This was origianlly proposed by Ralph Nader years ago)
Betcha if enough people did this the "industry" would find a more efficient and less expensive way to efficiently get such things recycled.
the dump wants 5$ a tire to recycle them, I have some tires I used under a boat I sold. Do I pay the 50$, that I feel is to high? At those prices it makes it hard to be green. Or dump them in the back field for the next 1000 years.
The issue is triangulation. How much longer are people going to triangulate between progressivism and capitalism? If you're trying to balance the two you have to separate material production and political influence. The progressive/capitalist balance that optimally benefits the society gives almost all political influence to progressivism, forcing the capitalist beast to become a beast of burden, to shut up and take production orders.
Triangulation doesn't work because the capitalist beast is a predator on people if people allow it. Giving the beast a few of your fingers to munch on for snacks does not make any more sense than giving it your whole arm for lunch. The answer is to completely stop feeding yourself to the beast. Remove your dependence on the beast. Cage the capitalist beast, put it to work, but depend on it only for intermittent projects. This was the Enlightenment period solution in reaction to the grotesque abuses of the British East India Company.
Yes, Earth Day is more relevant than ever. Unfortunately, the corpirate reinterpretation of Earth Day is Not relevant.
Different facet of the same story - a good social idea turns to scheisse by dealing with it's natural enemies. All I see of Earth Day is endless, ugly, feel-goody smug-ness ...for what? There's no change a-comin'.
I liken Earth Day to Christmas - A spiritual celebration that has been hijacked by corporate consumerism. $400,000 for an online calculator? I created an online calculator, that will show how much you can save by choosing a green retirement, in less than an hour - cost $0.
Almost all of the non-profit environmental groups, are bogus operations run by lawyers, that pay high administrative salaries.
We must stop looking to groups, that have long ago been corrupted, and focus on individual efforts.
Ramsay
And we must remember the original Earth Day Quote "Think Global Act Local".
In the US you need to break through the commercialized aspect to revisit Earth Day's original message.