BEACH AND BAY

LOCAL EARTH DAY EVENTS

April 22 • Earth Day Rally. Join Emerald Keepers along Orange Avenue between Third and Sixth streets. Bring your homemade signs to celebrate Earth Day and Coronado; the more colorful your sign, the better. Reuse your sign by placing it in your window at home, work or classroom to inspire others. 7 to 8:15 a.m.

• Emerald Keepers Earth Day poster competition awards. 3:30 p.m., Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave. Details: emeraldkeepers.org.

• Coronado cleanup. Pick up trash around the neighborhood, in parks and at beaches while searching for one of Emerald Keepers’ 10 golden tickets hidden throughout Coronado, including the Cays and Strand housing. Tickets are redeemable for prizes at the Coronado Public Library through April. April 23-24: Stop by the Emerald Keepers booth at the Coronado Flower Show to learn how to make every day Earth Day. Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Spreckels Park, 601 Orange Ave. May 1: Native plant walk. Identify and learn about native plants at Grand Caribe Shoreline Park. Don’t forget water, sunscreen and a hat. 9 to 10 a.m., 598 Grand Caribe Causeway.

Earth Day

Grass-roots movement now more than a billion strong across the globe

By AMY STEWARD

April 22 will mark the 52nd anniversary of a truly earth-changing event: Earth Day.

What began as a simple idea from Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., to raise awareness about the environment has exploded into an international event. Inspired by the antiwar movement on college campuses, Nelson and his steering committee co-chair, Rep. Pete McCloskey, R-Calif., selected activist Denis Hayes to organize “Campus Teach-Ins” to channel energy toward combating air and water pollution. Hayes’ efforts led to the inaugural Earth Day in 1970. Thousands of college and university students participated in rallies across the country, and environmental groups came together with Republicans and Democrats in a rare show of unity. On that day, 20 million Americans protested the deterioration of the environment.

Earth Day was a catalyst for the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of laws to protect water, hundreds of species from extinction and the health of millions of Americans.

It wasn’t until 1990 that a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another Earth Day. This time, Earth Day went global with 200 million people in 141 countries elevating environmental issues. Earth Day 1990 raised world awareness about recycling and set the stage for the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Worldwide awareness and activism continued to grow. By 2000, Earth Day saw 184 countries take part with 5,000 environmental groups from across the globe participating. That year, activists leveraged the internet to spread a message focused on global warming and a push for clean energy.

CECIL W. STOUGHTON | NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Protestors march during the National Capital Region Earth Day flag ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day.

A decade later, Earth Day engaged 75,000 global partners in 192 countries, while the Earth Day Network launched The Canopy Project, which, since that day, has planted tens of millions of trees worldwide.

Today, Earth Day is recognized as the largest secular observance in the world with more than a billion people participating in a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy awareness and change.

Earth Day 2022 focuses on climate change with a call to “Invest in Our Planet.” This call to action is for all people to take steps to protect the environment, establish sustainable habits and invest in climate-friendly innovation.

What can you do? Options include participating in a beach or neighborhood cleanup; advocating for strong climate action by writing city council members and congressional leaders; getting involved with #BreakFreeFromPlastic; requesting your local restaurant to ask customers if they want plastic wear and straws before automatically including them in takeout orders; planting a tree; making a plant-based meal; choosing sustainable clothing; composting food waste or placing it in your green bin each week; and conserving water. For more ideas, go to emeraldkeepers.org

On Earth Day, every city, every business, and every individual around the globe is asked to participate and take steps to help save the planet.

Amy Steward is president of Emerald Keepers.

WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT

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