Pollution is Shit… The Polluters Are The War Profiteers [Anti-Earth Day Environmentalists]

New York: Committee of Returned Volunteers, [ca. 1970]. 8 ½ x 11 in. Flyer mimeographed on recto only.

A remarkable flyer, likely from the first Earth Day, laying bare the insidious and multifaceted violence of American corporate interests - against the planet and its peoples. 

An early document of environmentalist direct action, notable for its publication and promotion by an organization otherwise known for its anti-war and anti-imperialist activism. Founded in 1966, the Committee of Returned Volunteers consisted of individuals working in voluntary service in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This flyer announces two demonstrations: the first in protest of Dow and Monsanto’s production of chemicals used by the U.S. military against the Vietnamese people; the second, on Earth Day, was a broadly considered action against the industrial giants of the United States and their disregard for the environment. 

Though undated, we suspect this flyer was produced for the first Earth Day in 1970 for several reasons. Bobby Righi, an activist with CRV, described their actions at that 1970 Earth Day in a recent essay which, along with the description on this broadside of a “circus on 5th Avenue and on 14th Street,” matches contemporary description of the day’s events. Additionally, institutional holdings suggest that the group did the vast majority of their activism and publishing in 1970 and 1971. 

Light toning at edge, faint fold lines; else, very good.