Have hope for Earth’s well-being

by Ben Patterson

Friday, April 25, 2008 00:00

Maybe my colleague Sean Kittridge was right when he said no one cared that Tuesday was Earth Day (“Earth Day nice yet ineffective holiday,” April 23). But what he failed to think of was the potential of Earth Day.

Once I sifted through the endless pessimism Mr. Kittridge was so apt at expounding, I came to the realization that many people must have misconceptions of what Earth Day is, or rather, what it should be. Mr. Kittridge’s rationale primarily rested on the idea that people only care about our planet if they are required to go through community service projects or school activities. Similarly, only if the government enforces eco-friendly regulations on the corporations responsible for the consumer’s polluting will people be forced to “care.”

Personally, I believe that people do in fact have self-driven concerns for the well-being of our planet. Call me crazy. Nonetheless, Earth Day is the perfect opportunity for individuals to share their concerns and attempt to spread awareness through multiple streams.

Earth Day was created by our own former senator, Gaylord Nelson, back in 1970 to encourage political support for environmental awareness. And to this day it continues to accomplish what it set out to do: inform. Earth Day may be just one day out of the year, but it’s the perfect opportunity for everyone to look at their own lifestyle and analyze what they could be doing differently. The day doesn’t necessarily need to be a celebration of our planet, as the term “holiday” may suggest, but rather should be a day for introspection to remember and acknowledge that we all live in one world where everyone’s actions affect each other.

We can’t be so ignorant to believe that legislators are going to hold our hand to tell us specifically how to fix our planet’s health issues. That’s for each person to realize individually. And unless you’re one of the few global warming non-believers left, the need to go green is nothing new to you. But the actual implementing of a green lifestyle is often seen as something impractical or maybe even burdensome. The truth is you don’t have to change your life or spend more money to be eco-friendly. In fact, being environmentally conscious could make you wealthier.

Say a bunch of your friends bring some cases over to party and play beer pong: something that I know I wouldn’t give up, even for the environment. But this time, instead of buying plastic cups for beer pong and just throwing the cans out, party the eco-friendly way.

A website based right here in Madison, rerackcups.com, offers custom, reusable, regulation-size beer pong cups. The website offers different designs for your beer pong needs and has made sure the cups are dishwasher safe. With these cups, there’s no longer a need to buy new cups every time someone wants to play this great American game.

Likewise, all those cans that may accumulate in every crevice of the house after a party can be turned into cold, hard cash. A pound of aluminum is currently worth one dollar. A few parties, maybe a few hangovers, and you’ve got yourself another brand new case while protecting the environment all the while.

There are countless things people can do to contribute to the environmental awareness effort. But in the end it is entirely up to each person to account for himself and do the things necessary to create a world and lifestyle conducive to environmental consciousness. We shouldn’t look at Earth Day as a meek attempt at fixing the planet’s problems; rather, if nothing else, we should look at it as a day to think about our own actions. Maybe with some personal insight and revelation people will begin to take steps to become responsible for their effect on the planet that belongs to everyone. It’s the only way things will ever truly change.

Ben Patterson (bpatterson@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in political science.