Earth Day is today.

The day’s common thread says, “Save the Environment: Everybody’s doing it.”

… But are they? Some environmental experts and leaders of student advocacy organizations said Earth Day’s embrace of “eco-chic” trendiness to raise awareness runs the risk of distracting from the long-term goals of environmentalism.

Bob Bolin, director of ASU’s doctoral program in environmental social science, said Earth Day began almost 40 years ago as a political movement sponsored by the federal government to encourage environmental activism within the anti-war movement. Although it may be beneficial as an educational tool, especially on a college campus, Bolin said it’s easy for year-round interest in the environment to “recede into the background.”

“[Earth Day] is important for awareness on campus,” he said. “The question is, ‘How do you sustain the interest?’”

Viewing eco-conscious

activities as “chic” may be more distracting than motivating to ASU students because it plays into a culture saturated by advertising, Bolin said. He added that global environmental issues are more complex than can be addressed solely by the current social trend of buying green.

“There’s sort of an emphasis on green consumerism — or that you can buy your way to being green — but that seems kind of paradoxical,” Bolin said. Simply shifting your consumption is not enough to reach a permanent change, he added.

Bolin said that even in an economic recession, there are easy, affordable steps every student can take to make a more permanent impact on the planet, such as riding a bicycle or adopting a vegetarian lifestyle.

“The cheapest thing is to not consume more than you need to,” he said. “I know that green consumerism is the chic thing right now, but consuming less is better than consuming more.”

Dave White, an associate professor for the School of Community Resources and Development at ASU, agreed that a current challenge for environmentalists is making sure that the right messages get across to the public, even when people who are not invested in the cause feel it is “trendy or hip or popular to be talking about sustainability and green issues.”

“It’s not just reducing the [environmental] impact of the products they buy, but reducing [overall] consumption and reusing the products they do buy,” he said.

White, an expert in natural resource management, said the drawback to Earth Day is that people not committed to its causes may only think about them once a year. But he said the one-day promotional campaign also provides the opportunity for those truly interested in climate change to push forward bigger, more permanent environmental agendas in government and society.

“Even though it’s a contained event, it [still] raise[s] awareness about environmental issues once every year,” White said. “You can take advantage of that popularity, and advance policies that are going to have much longer-lasting effects.”

Some ASU student organizations plan to capitalize on Earth Day’s surge of eco-consciousness to raise more permanent awareness of environmental concerns.

Caitlin Joseph, president of VegAware, said the group will be tabling at the “Eat Well, Live Well” event today at Engrained restaurant on the Tempe campus to “get people to think about how their diet choices impact the environment and other living things around us.”

Joseph, a secondary education and biology sophomore, said the trendiness of Earth Day events are useful as an opportunity for dialogue about sustainability and environmental causes. She said environmentalism being en vogue is overall more positive than negative, but many people stop short of changing their lifestyles past what is trendy.

“People are doing things like buying reusable grocery bags [and] fitting in with the trends just enough that they’re getting their kicks just from that,” she said. “But how much impact does that really make?”

Most environmental experts and environmentally active students seemed to agree that although a one-day eco-extravaganza is not the most effective path toward permanent change, the activist fervor of Earth Day may lead to more consistent and subtle approaches for saving the planet.

Joseph Hoxie, a political science sophomore and president of EcoAid on Campus, said the current trendiness of the sustainability movement might have a negative effect when the eco-bandwagon “usurps those who are truly interested in the effort,” but that “the movement itself is not bad, because people are finding more opportunities to get involved.”

“You have to take the good with the bad,” Hoxie said. “The bad about the [Earth Day movement] is, some people don’t really know what they’re moving for. But the good thing is that [the environment]’s not just a blip on the radar anymore.”

Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.