Celebrating the Earth should go beyond a single month

Our current relationship with the environment possesses an inherent dichotomy. It could be argued that a core American value is the appreciation of Earth’s natural beauty as the United States is often listed as one of the world’s most naturally beautiful nations. 

Patriotic anthems boast spacious skies above fruited plains from sea to shining sea, and the U.S. became the first country to establish national parks to preserve wondrous landscapes in 1872. However, alongside an ostensible pride in this imagery seems to lie a concerning acceptance of its destruction. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the U.S. is responsible for nearly a third of both the world’s energy consumption and carbon emissions — a disheartening disproportionality considering that U.S. citizens make up only 5% of the world’s population. 

Earth Month might be an example of this duplicity. Only observed by 20 million people upon its creation, Earth Day began in 1970 by former Wisconsin Senator Gaylor Nelson. Being influenced by youth protests and the publication of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” Earth Day expanded over the subsequent decades through technological mobilization and expanding legislation — many of which were spearheaded by Nelson himself. 

Today, more than 1 billion people across the globe celebrate Earth Day as a “day of action to change human behavior and create global, national, and local policy changes,” according to the holiday organization’s official mission statement. 

The U.S. has spearheaded the largest secular observance on the planet and dedicated it to preserving its resources. However, these efforts still seem to exist in an unproductive cycle. The average American emits about 16 tons of carbon. Compared to the emissions of other large countries such as China’s seven and the United Kingdom’s six, our celebration of Earth Day seems nothing more than a facade. 

While most environmental damage is perpetrated by flawed public policies and corporations prioritizing profit, that doesn’t absolve the work we as individuals need to do to reduce our impact. Saying that individual actions are not significant enough to make a change is a thin excuse. If enough humans move as a collective and do even these simple things that benefit the environment, transformation is possible. 

Studies have shown that something as simple as turning the lights off when you leave a room can reduce carbon emissions by more than 5 million tons. Light pollution is a major source of carbon emissions, and 35% of light usage is wasted per year. In the U.S., 15 million tons of carbon dioxide are released per year from residential lighting, an amount that would need 600 million new trees to purify. Switching to motion sensors and LED lights, or simply following the common rule of switching off the lights if you’re leaving an area for more than 15 minutes, could result in a drastic and profound change. 

Another simple, sustainable act is to sort your trash properly. Trojans have unequivocal resources to implement recycling and composting in their lives and save 904 kilograms of carbon per person each year at no additional cost. Taking the extra 30 seconds to allocate your waste into landfill, recycling and compost — bins for all three are now available in residential dorms — reduces the demand for environmentally unsustainable manufacturing and decreases the amount of trash spilled into our landfills and oceans. If all 49,000 Trojans reduce, reuse and recycle, USC alone would reduce carbon emissions by 48,800 tons annually. Nationally, we could see that number rise to over 33 million. 

Finally, the Wednesday Farmers Market in McCarthy Quad is a great place to begin sustainable purchasing. With Los Angeles being a mega-hub of small businesses, buying locally could reduce carbon emissions by up to 17%. 

For example, according to research by Stanford University, the average meal has traveled up to 25,000 miles with out-of-season produce transported from Africa and Europe. Cargo ships commonly used to import these goods produce 10 to 40 grams of CO2 per kilometer. Try purchasing clothing or furniture from a thrift store rather than ordering from Shein or Amazon and avoid agricultural corporations like Hood or Driscoll’s. These swaps have the additional benefits of encouraging sustainable production and deterring labor exploitation, animal abuse and chemical agriculture. American dairy farmers have even collectively agreed to become a carbon-neutral industry by 2050. All we have to do is support them in their efforts.

The time has come for us to redefine our approach to sustainability. Earth Month is a precious period because it reminds us of our responsibility to protect the planet that we pride ourselves on. We need to sustain this interest regularly and let it take some priority in the way we live our lives. We can only hope that through doing this, Earth Day transforms from a day of action to a day of celebration rather than a day of mourning the decay of our planet.