Earth Day downer: Recycling’s not enough

As I shopped earlier today with reusable grocery bags and dropped glass, plastic and paper products into my recycling bin at home, I felt good about doing my part – on Earth Day, no less! – to help the planet.

In addition to recycling and reusable bags, I keep my house hot in the summer/cold in the winter, don’t buy paper towels (seriously) and reuse as much as possible (I haven’t bought new Ziploc bags in months). I don’t tell you these things to toot my green horn, but to help you understand how disappointed I was to read this article from Newsweek.

Although the article focused primarily on the fact that “green shopping” doesn’t really make a dent in the colossal problem that is climate change, what really made my heart sink was this: “By believing that green shopping—or even recycling, turning down the thermostat, or carpooling—is enough, we consent to the continuation of the same societal practices that got us into this mess. Compared with the scale of the disaster, changing individual behavior is pathetically inadequate.”

Sigh…

But, by all means, keep recycling and implementing green practices at your workplaces. And to offer some encouragement to still make this Earth Day a positive one – here are the Nature Conservancy's five recommendations for Earth Day:

1. Figure out your carbon footprint.
2. Time your shower.
3. Walk.
4. Shop at a farmers’ market
5. Contact your congressional representatives about the importance of countering climate change.

Happy Earth Day!