Earth Days are easy; it's the rest that count

I I f I didn't know better, I'd swear I had suddenly been magicallytransported to Shangri-La, where the grass is green, the fruit juicyand plentiful, the air as pure as Eden at its birth.

I'd swear I live where all the God's creatures live in peace andfree from harm. I'd swear I live where nary a speck of soot hasnever soiled the land. I'd swear I live where Earth Day lasts 365days a year.

But come Monday morning, America will be belching and litteringand polluting all over again. Come Monday morning we can start beingourselves again. Of course, we've never really stopped beingourselves - except during Earth Week, when we kid ourselves thatwe're not really ourselves, but dedicated, committedenvironmentalists. We're so easy.

Earth Day has become like Christmas when Americans put asidepetty jealousies as our hearts fill to the brim with love and caringfor our fellow man. We smile more. We even give generously to allthose bell-ringing Salvation Army troops.

Fortunately, Dec. 26 quickly arrives and we can get back tobeing ourselves, flicking obscene hand gestures toward each other,pushing panhandlers out of the way as we claw and scratch our way tothe top.

For 20 years now, the Earth Day machinery has attempted toawaken our consciousness to the many problems threatening theenvironment. And for 51 weeks a year, America basically flicks anobscene hand gesture toward the movement - until the 52nd weekarrives.

During this week, American car manufacturers announce plans forelectric cars to cut down on air pollution. Fast food companiessuddenly awaken to the idea that maybe those plastic cartoons theyput their high cholesterol hamburgers in take 300 years todisintegrate. The fishing industry announces it won't accept tunacaught in nets which also snag dolphins. And all the rest ofindustry from the oil companies, to the chemical companies, allattest to their passion for whales and eagles and of course thatever-popular resource: air.

Given all the commercials on TV praising the environment, onewould think that Ralph Nader was running all of corporate America,instead of Sammy Glick.

And we all fall for it. Because we want to fall for it. Wewant to think of America in terms of amber waves of grain and purplemountains majesty. We don't want to accept the notion that Americais really one big Gary, Ind., that the waves of grain are amberbecause they're covered with pesticides and that the purple haze overthe mountains is the result of auto emissions.

Of course the Earth Day movement hasn't been totally for naughtthese past 20 years. It has seen the elimination of at least oneugly scourge from the landscape. I speak of course of the dreadedEarth Shoe.

Back in 1970, when Earth Day first began, it also heralded thearrival of environmental fashion. The most gaudy example was theEarth Shoe, an awkward looking pair of footwear that lowered heelsand raised soles. They didn't last long and I suspect thousands ofpairs of Earth Shoes are now hard at work as an artifical reefsomewhere, protecting the environment.

One small step for the Shangri-La, one giant step for hautecouture.

Daniel Ruth is the Chicago Sun-Times' television critic.