Earth Day is Apr. 22 and celebrates the Earth, raises awareness about the environment and honors the achievements of the work done by the climate movements and activists.
The first Earth Day was Apr. 22, 1970, and is on the anniversary of the modern environmental movement, according to the Earth Day website. In 1969 senator Gaylord Nelson witnessed the repercussions of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara. This inspired him to raise awareness for air and water pollution so he came up with the idea to do a teach-in on college campuses.
Nelson asked activist Denis Hayes to organize the campus teach-ins. They chose Apr. 22 as it was in between spring break and final exams so there will be the most college students on campus.
Hayes built a national staff to promote the event. Changing the name to Earth Day caught people’s attention and encouraged 20 million Americans to participate in the event. In 1990 Hyes went a step further, organizing a global Earth Day with more than 200 million participants in more than 140 countries. According to National Geographic, Earth Day now brings together more than 20,000 partners and organizations in 190 countries.
The Earth Day network focuses on issues such as climate change, conserving the world’s biodiversity, education, implementing renewable energy, recycling, green schools, economy and more.
In Montgomery County, there are Student Serves Learning (SSL) hour opportunities available for students during Earth Day. There is an event being held on Apr. 22 from 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. at Loiederman Middle School. During this event, students will be constructing a farm on the middle school’s campus. Food and transportation will be provided. You can fill out this form to apply.
Earth Day helps raise awareness for the environment. “I love Earth Day because it reminds me of all the Earth has to offer and how we have to take good care of the Earth,” junior Jenna Goldberg said.
Students enjoy Earth Day. “I like Earth Day because it spreads awareness about climate change,” sophomore Ava Eisenman said.
According to the Earth Day website, the movement’s accomplishments include hundreds of millions of trees planted, educators in 149 Countries, seven billion green school grants, 2.7 billion acts of green, 15 Million cleanup volunteers and 50 million citizen data points.
Today, Earth Day is known as the largest environmental movement, mobilizing millions of Americans from all over the world. Earth Day has led to environmental laws being passed including Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
