Save Our Planet? Only If It Yields Profit

The fragile balance between corporate profits and making a change in our culture is a very fine line to walk. American business is all about profit. They have taken this movement and twisted it into a marketing technique to sell more products, but in order to make a big impact on consumer waste you must use the corporate giants. The corporations are on board with making eco-friendly products as long as in the end it equals profits.
Author Leslie Kaufman of the New York Times, states these same ideas in her article, At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business.She states,” Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry” (Kaufman Para 2) and here she quotes Denis Hayes, who was national coordinator of the first Earth Day and is returning to organize this year’s activities in Washington.“This ridiculous perverted marketing has cheapened the concept of what is really green,” “It is tragic” (Kaufman Para 6)
Overtime, the focus on doing what’s right for the planet has been modified to include profit making. It is a shame that we can’t do right by the planet that has done right by us. This makes me fear for my daughter’s future. Our carbon footprint is getting bigger and deeper and there is no true sign that this trend will slow.
Like everything else in America Earth Day has now been altered from its humble beginnings to support the needs of greedy corporations (ex. Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Valentine’s Day).


Web Article:
New York Times
Author: Leslie Kaufman
At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business, Published April 21 2010