I'm glad my post elicited some discussion. I think it's safe to say everyone could do more to be good stewards of our natural resources, and that to me is why Earth Day exists... not as part of some "nature as a religion" type philosophy (which is seems like you might be referring to in your initial post, EWB?)
I'm not a big fan of the government dictating what people should do unless there's a clear public health and safety reason to do so. That said, I don't think the market always makes the best decisions because our economy is very short-sighted -- short term gains over long term stability and strength. All of this taken together means we, as individuals, bear a lot of responsibility for doing the right things (or at least not doing the WRONG things... littering, wasting water, not maintaining our vehicles so they pollute even more than normal, improperly disposing of used motor oil and other toxins, etc.)
Earth Day is about focusing on more than just ourselves and our own self interests, and realizing our actions have impacts beyond the little sphere we each operate in during the course of our daily lives. There are over
6.5 BILLION of us (
population clock), and our actions have individual and cumulative affects on each other, our society and our environment.