I believe in recycling, but probably not for the reason that most environmentalist do. Do I consider myself an environmentalist, yes, but one based on practicality. Not your typical environmentalist huh. So no, I don't go out and hug trees, or do all the weird stuff.
First, my parents grew up poor, and at some points of their lives on farms. They grew up with a if it's fixable, then fix it. If not, then re purpose it type of attitude. It was for practicality that they recycled or re purposed. That attitude has somewhat been ingrained in me.
On top of that, I'm also very aware of what cutting down trees will do to our environment. Trees provide a huge service for people, including homes for wild animals, such as feral hogs. (I live in an area where feral hogs can be a problem at times, although I have yet to see them.) One of the problems with real estate developers coming in and destroying are woods is the displacement of animals. Where do you think the animals are to live? That's right, the cities, and your yards. In fact, we are already seeing it happening now, such as that coyote in NY that decided to vist, what was it, Starbuck's or Quizno's. Anyway, it's a very viscious cycle that begins that ends in no deer, hogs, cattle, etc. (Personally, I think every hunter should be an enviornmentalist for this reason. Hey, I like to eat meat, and the hunters need to be able to provide me meat.)
Now, with all this said, is Earth Day important? Yes and no. It's important in that it should remind us to be more conscious of what we are doing. However, it's not as that we should be more aware of human rights then animal and plant rights. My personal belief is that if it's between saving the last cockroach or a cure for AIDS, kill the cockroach. (Kill it anyway, it probably spawned when you didn't see it.)