Environmental activists’ favorite holiday, Earth Day, is fast becoming a gimmicky, commercial sideshow somewhat like Halloween’s candy and ghosts and President’s Day’s auto sales.
Most of the climate change merchandise being advertised or launched on Earth Day — let’s call it Earth Merch — won’t make you ponder environmental sustainability, though.
Take for instance Dixon Golf, the manufacturer of what it calls the first high-performance eco-friendly golf balls. The Arizona company said it is taking 40 percent off for a dozen of its Dixon Earth balls, complete with a complimentary Bamboo Divot Tool. All weekend, just this weekend!
“With the golf season right around the corner, it’s a great time of year to stock your golf bag with eco-friendly balls and green tools,” the company’s CEO says.
And it’s not a new thing. Dixon says it’s been doing the Earth Day promotion three years in a row.
Other Earth Merch includes, of course, bottled water. Not plastic bottles, but eco-friendly paper-based bottles.
The company JUST water may be more activist-oriented, but it is just as marketing-savvy as any other company using Earth Day to boost sales and/or interest in its line of products.
JUST advertises itself as a provider of “ethically sourced 100 percent spring water in a paper-based bottle.” Plastic bottles, many of which are petroleum-based, aren’t good for the environment. And who knows where the water is coming from.
The company used Earth Day to announce the launch of its “new, plant-based” bottles to store its 100-percent, ethically sourced spring water, which beat out the competition.
“Kicking off production on April 22, the JUST water bottle is now made with 82 percent renewable resources that come directly from plant-based materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 74 percent compared to a range of PET plastic bottles,” the company announced. The bottle-material craze is the latest eco-movement to hit supermarket shelves.
Earth Day is also a way to give a kick to competitors.
Now, PET bottles, which are plastic bottles made to be recycled to cut down on landfills, aren’t good enough anymore since they’re made using fossil fuels, JUST suggests. If consumers want the best, you must go “plant-based,” even better than the paper bottles showing up in Target’s grocery aisle.
Then there are, of course, the digital Earth Day apps.
The organization One Green Planet, which bills itself as “the leading digital media startup for eco-conscious millennials,” launched Food Monster, which it calls “the biggest, baddest, yummiest all-vegan recipe app.”
Food Monster sorts through the fray to provide thousands of plant-based recipes, so everyone can #EatForThePlanet. It can be downloaded using iTunes.
“The real war against climate change is being fought on our plates, multiple times a day with every food choice we make,” said Nil Zacharias, the company’s co-founder.
“Consider the Food Monster App to be your daily dose of the ultimate foodie experience as you discover 10+ new recipes every day,” the app launch press release says.
You can explore popular themes such as dairy-free cheeses, raw vegan desserts, veggie burgers and budget-friendly meals, as well as seasonal favorites.
More traditional companies, such as rental truck giant Penske, used Earth Day to show off its truck fleet as Environmental Protection Agency-approved, through participation in the voluntary EPA emission-cutting program for big rig trucks called the SmartWay.
