Earth Day used to be about the earth
HOST: Starting today, if you want a Toyota Prius plug-in electric model, you can sign up online. It’s perfect timing because today’s Earth Day.
And apparently Toyota’s not the only company taking advantage of the occasion.
Marketplace’s Eve Troeh reports.
Eve Troeh: Hopefully no one’s dressing up as Recyclops.
“The Office” clip: Recyclops destroy!
Like Dwight on NBC’s “The Office.” But 80 percent of companies do celebrate Earth Day. Kathleen Rogers with the Earth Day Network says that’s not commercialization. It’s participation.
Kathleen Rogers: Even companies with very challenged environmental records are beginning to understand they have to do something around Earth Day.
Even just planting a few trees. And organizers like her won’t judge them. Earth Day’s now open to all shades of green.
Joel Makower: You can talk about the environment, without necessarily talking about the politics, and I think that’s a good thing.
Joel Makower runs GreenBiz.com. He says businesses are making real progress, but you won’t hear about it on Earth Day, because it’s not easy to promote.
Makower: Out widget has 42 percent fewer toxics this year. That’s a significant achievement, but that’s not a very happy story to tell.
He says it amounts to: We’re using poison, just less than we used to.
I’m Eve Troeh for Marketplace.
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