Mercury Momentum has adopted a 3-armed philosophy to embody Earth Day and guide the event:
The Natural World – to respect, protect, explore and engage in the Nature of the planet
Green Technologies – to explore and expand interest, understanding and support for innovations that are cleaner, healthier and more sustainable for the future
Many Cultures – to respect and explore different perspectives on what Earth Day means, including views on science, policy, culture, spirit, lifestyles, and/or economics
We continually try to balance the event between these 3 arms and develop new programs to expand each direction.
Reno Earth Day also attempts to uphold a philosophy of inclusivenessin order to maximize the reach of Earth Day messages and changes in habits and assumptions over a broader audience. The role of the organizers is not to judge different perspectives, but to optimize the forum for so many people – so many puzzle pieces – to come together, learn from each other and share community cathexis and education. Inclusiveness is extended to how we reach other volunteers and organization, how we design the layouts for different types of exhibitors and how we attempt to diversify the audience. We try not to judge what we think participantsshould do, but try to maximize the opportunities for them to learn andchoose a better way to act. We have over 100 non-profit groups participating with the freedom to advocate, rally and maintain a myriad of “should” voices. Our process is to simply keep it fair and fun for so many perspectives involved, support and assist the plans of participating organizations and help the puzzle pieces fit together smoothly.
By expanding how we include all participants, we have expanded the audience and its diversity. The benefits of this approach are to have more educational impact, creating even more positive change. An event like this could run the risk of attracting mainly like-minded individuals, who already know of most environmental initiatives, technologies and resources, and already practice strong sustainable lifestyles. Therefore, the change inspired by the event could remain minimal and be defined by others’ as simply a “special interest.” By attracting a wider, more diverse audience that may not already know about these things, the opportunity for change is greater; even a small change of practice or habit in a larger audience equates to greater overall impact. Our goal is to exemplify that stewardship of the planet we share is not a “special Interest;” it affects us all, so we need to create greater momentum by involving more people. The event is then designed to maximize the educational opportunities at the event – both interactive and passive – so that once we get people there, they cannot help but learn something.
