Earth day every day

History

Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin junior senator, had long been worried about the country’s failing climate.

Nelson was inspired by student anti-war demonstrations organized in the late 1960s and decided to combine the momentum of student anti-war protests with a growing public awareness of air and water pollution. Nelson pitched the concept for a teach-in on college campuses to the national media and convinced Pete McCloskey, a conservative Republican Congressman, to join him as co-chair. They appointed a young activist, Denis Hayes, to coordinate the campus teach-ins. They also chose April 22, a weekday between Spring Break and Final Exams, to maximize student participation.

Hayes assembled a national team of 85 people to support activities around the country, and the campaign quickly grew to include a diverse variety of associations, religious groups, and others.

Earth Day every day

Art By Polina Engovatov

They named it Earth Day, which drew national media coverage and quickly gained traction around the world. Earth Day prompted 20 million Americans, 10% of the country’s population at the time, to take to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to protest the effects of 150 years of industrial development, which had left an increasing legacy of severe human health consequences.

Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment, and there were massive coast-to-coast rallies in cities, towns, and communities.

Similarly, groups that had been fighting individually against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife united on Earth Day around these shared common values.

The first Earth Day in 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders.

By the end of the year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency had been established, as well as the passage of other groundbreaking environmental legislation, such as the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act.

Two years later, Congress passed the Clean Water Act. Another year after that, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act and, soon after, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. These laws have protected millions of men, women, and children from disease and death and have protected hundreds of species from extinction.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders approached Denis Hayes to organize a major campaign for the planet. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a major conference that aimed to reconcile worldwide economic development with the protection of the environment. It also prompted

President Bill Clinton to award Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians in the United States, for his role as the founder of Earth Day.

With the millennium unfolding, Hayes decided to lead a new initiative, this time focusing on global warming and the drive for renewable energy. Earth Day 2000 built both global and local conversations, using the power of the Internet to rally activists around the world while also featuring a drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, touching hundreds of millions of people.

Today, Earth Day is widely known as the world’s largest secular celebration, observed annually by more than a billion people as a day of action to transform human behavior and improve global, national, and local policy.

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the commemoration of the birth of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970.

This year is the 51st anniversary of Earth Day with the theme “Restore Our Earth.”

This theme is based on a new theory that challenges the notion that saving the world is limited to reducing or adapting to the effects of climate change and other environmental destruction.

The theme encourages natural system processes and new green technologies to be studied by scientists, non-governmental entities, corporations, and governments around the world in order to preserve the world’s habitats and forests, sustain and rebuild soils, enhance agricultural methods, restore wildlife populations, and rid the world’s oceans of plastics.

Similarly, the Green Team at Carlmont High School aims to raise awareness about the health of our planet by promoting green initiatives at Carlmont and the surrounding community. The club has been around for five years and was founded by Carlmont alumni Celine Yang, Risako Nozaki, and Kristin Ma.

In the current distance-learning environment, the club has been meeting virtually every Wednesday to educate its members on a monthly topic and to introduce new challenges that members can study at home. The club has also been hosting speakers from local organizations and universities as well as planning projects and activities that members can safely participate in.

As co-president of the Green Team, Kat Nguyen says that the Green Team will be hosting weekly challenges for Earth Month on environmental-themed topics, many of which members have already covered over the past few months during their meetings. The club will have a leaderboard to engage members in a point system that lets them compete for rewards. Those who participate will be eligible for various prizes from sustainable brands, such as Acure, Dr. Bronners, Everyone, and more.

On Earth Day specifically, Green Team plans to put a trivia game on their Instagram story, reflect on their club’s yearly accomplishments, and hopefully post an Instagram Reel made by club members.

What do you think is the most important aspect of Earth Day?

“I think the most important aspect of Earth Day is to celebrate the work that we have accomplished in sustaining a healthy environment while reminding the world that the fight is far from over. Earth Day serves as a yearly checkin on how the Earth is feeling, and we bring awareness on how to move forward sustainably,” Nguyen said.

What is your favorite way to celebrate Earth Day?

“My favorite way to celebrate Earth Day is by participating in environmentally-friendly activities like picking up trash and cooking sustainable food. I also like expanding my knowledge of various environmental topics. Last year, I tuned into Earth Day Live and learned a few low-carbon vegan recipes, the importance of conserving animal species, and heard from several guest speakers on how to take climate action. Earth Day always provides valuable insights into every niche of the environmental issues we face and how to carry my learnings forward to achieve a sustainable future,” Nguyen said.

What is the best way someone can spend Earth Day and spread awareness about environmental issues?

“The best way someone can spend Earth Day is by planning to attend an event, like beach cleanups, tree planting, or even something virtual on the Earth Day Network. To spread awareness about environmental issues, it is important to set an example for others while accepting people’s unique circumstances. It takes time for people to learn, grow, and ultimately change, but these small changes most certainly create a positive difference in the world,” Nguyen said.