Mmore than 8 billion people inhabit the Earth, and soon a spring holiday will remind them of the need to take care of their home.
Earth Day, which takes place on April 22, dates back to 1970, when organizers hoped to raise awareness of the environmental degradation they were witnessing across the country. Since then, recognition of the holiday expanded to more than 190 countries that have added Earth Day to their calendar.
The holiday is at once a somber reminder of the work that must be done and a celebration of the progress that has been made with regard to climate change efforts. It has also been the catalyst for action, including the creation of international climate agreements and environmental agencies.
This year’s theme is Planet vs. Plastics, which calls on government leaders, businesses and ordinary people to reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040. It also calls for complete elimination of single-use plastics by the end of this decade.
“The word environment means what surrounds you. In the case of plastics, we have become the product itself – it flows through our bloodstream, adheres to our internal organs and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and disease.” he said Kathleen Rogers, president of earthday.org. “The Planet vs. Plastics is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of all living things on our planet.”
Here are 10 interesting facts about Earth Day.
Earth Day was created by a senator
Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, was increasingly concerned about the state of the environment in the US in the 1960s. After a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in January 1969, he came up with the idea of launch national environmentally-focused education on college campuses, drawing inspiration from the anti-war movements against the Vietnam War taking place on campuses across the country. Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to help bring the idea to the public.
The idea for Earth Day emerged after a series of environmental catastrophes
Hayes, one of the organizers of the first Earth Day, previously told TIME that the idea for the holiday came about after a series of events that brought attention to the environment, including the release of Rachel Carson’s book. Silent Spring in 1962 and the Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969. Hayes said that although there were several groups in the U.S. working on different environmental issues – to reduce air pollution, draw attention to the impact of pesticides on farm workers, and more – they have never worked together.
“What we did was take all these countless strands, including wildlife protection issues, and weave them together. It seems strange today, but back then, people involved with these various causes didn’t think they had anything in common with each other,” he told TIME in 2019. “Nobody was asking that question in the late 1970s.”
More than 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day
Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970. The event closed Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue as people demonstrated and participated in street cleanups.
“The holiday atmosphere on Fifth Avenue was exemplified by members of the architectural firm Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde, who spread a yellow and white quilt on the asphalt near 57th Street, placed a tulip in a wine bottle as a centerpiece, and we enjoyed a picnic in the sun. A laughing crowd gathered around them and sang ‘Happy Earth Day to you,’” said the New York Times. Times reported that day.
Earth Day is on April 22nd because of college schedules
The date of Earth Day was largely dictated by the schedules of the college students Hayes and Nelson hoped to attract. April 22 fell on a weekday during the school year — between spring break and final exams, when the weather was mild enough to allow people to go outside.
The Environmental Protection Agency was created after the first Earth Day
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates mechanisms to protect the environment, was created on December 2, 1970 as a direct response to the first Earth Day. Congress formed the agency after witnessing the huge turnout at Earth Day demonstrations across the country, the EPA says.
“Last year, some said there would never be another Earth Day. They saw concern for our environment as a passing fad and claimed that the instant enthusiasm of an activist generation would soon flow elsewhere,” said William D. Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the EPA during the second Earth Day in 1971. “I believe they were wrong.”
Earth Day went global in 1990
Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day movement, which led to the passage of important environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act in the US later that year.
“Earth Day 1970 achieved rare political alignment, garnering support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders,” says earthday.org history page.
But its impact spans more than just one country. The movement went global in 1990, after a group of environmental leaders approached Hayes to organize another major campaign for the planet, which mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries.
In the new millennium, the movement changed direction focus on the campaign against global warming and, in 2020, more than one billion people around the world participated in Earth Day actions.
The Paris Agreement was opened for signature on Earth Day
The Paris Agreement, the most significant international climate agreement in history, opened for signature on Earth Day in 2016. The treaty has more than 190 signatories, all of whom have agreed to reduce carbon emissions and take other actions to reduce climate change.
The United Automobile Workers union played an important role in making Earth Day possible
The former head of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union was one of the biggest contributors to the original Earth Day, donating $2,000 in 1970 (the equivalent of more than US$15,500 today).
“The UAW was by far the largest contributor to the first Earth Day and its support went beyond merely financial. She printed and mailed all of our materials at her expense – even those that criticized car pollution,” Hayes said. counted Grain in 2010. “Its organizers recruited workers in every city where it is present. And of course, Walter then endorsed the Clear Air Act that the Big Four were doing their best to kill or disembowel.
Organizers are trying to hold the largest Earth Day cleanup event in history in 2024
For this year’s Earth Day celebration, earthday.org is working with Malaysian organizations to organize the largest Earth Day cleanup in history. Penang Island, the country’s main island, has been impacted by plastic pollution due to tourism. At least 100,000 volunteers will clean the country’s beaches and forests, according to organizers. They will also plant over 1 million trees.
Tens of millions of trees were planted on Earth Day
About 18 million acres of forest are lost every year to deforestation, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. To combat this, earthday.org founded the Canopy Project in 2010 and says it has since planted tens of millions of trees around the world.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
