Have a sound grounding Horn

Earth Day, which has its origins in the U.S., will be celebrated by thousands of Americans with great fanfare on April 22. Being a holiday for most of them, they will either go out on a picnic, visit a fair, or maybe even organise a rally to celebrate Earth Day, founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson. Most are well-meaning citizens. Asians and others (the middle-class and the elite), who have access to the Internet and who are environment-conscious, will find their own ways of celebrating this day. Otherwise, Earth Day will be just another day to strike off the calendar. Most people in Asia, especially from developing countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, would remain largely unaware. They would be busy about their daily chores. A majority of these would care less, even if told it is Earth Day, because they have to work to earn their daily bread.

However, even in the U.S., while Earth Day does serve to promote environmental values, it also reveals the environmental movement's limitations, according to a political science professor at the University of Maine. "A number of environmental groups consider the holiday's very popularity to be its own undoing as corporate and business groups use Earth Day as an opportunity to define themselves as supportive of the environment," says Amy Fried. "The holiday has proved to be a mixed legacy reflecting the schisms permeating American environmentalism."

Fried, who is interested in how events such as Earth Day shape our politics, culture and values, surveyed staff members at 18 major environmental organisations. She asked them to describe their Earth Day activities, to discuss the political or educational nature of Earth Day, and to consider how Earth Day influences the way people view the environment. Her paper on the results of the survey is currently under review by the journal "Environmental Politics."

Most of the respondents agreed that Earth Day reinforces the importance of environmental education, which has become the most successful and enduring part of the 28-year-old holiday. Agreement, however, ended there, reflecting the philosophical differences among environmental groups. Some survey respondents suggested Earth Day has become a "feel good" media story, lacking "political clout." They criticised the emphasis on individual action -- recycling, driving fuel-efficient cars, using cloth grocery bags -- over collective, political action.

However, sharp differences centered on corporate sponsorship. Some groups criticised corporate funding as "greenwashing," while others viewed the practice as a legitimate means of raising funds for the environmental movement. A supporter of sponsorship wrote that if a corporation was moving to be green, it was fine. Many of today's corporate leaders participated in the first Earth Day in college; it turned them into environmentalists. If they try to coopt Earth Day, they'll just help spread environmental propaganda."

But an opponent of sponsorship countered, "Many times waste companies sponsor family events with entertainment, commercial enterprise books and exhibits to promote the idea that polluters are really protectors of the environment."