Earth Day turns 39
Yes, technically, every day is Earth Day. It is, after all, hardly a radical concept to consider that we need to look after our Mother Earth if we expect her resources to sustain our ever-growing population.
But why is April 22nd celebrated around the globe? National Geographic News provides a great synopsis of the how’s & why’s of Earth Day along with a nod to its principal founder, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, and principal organizer, Denis Hayes.
On April 22, 1970, with nine staff members (pictured: Judy Moody and Denis Hayes) and a $125,000 budget, a Washington, D.C.-based group organized the Environmental Teach-in, which became the first Earth Day.
Prior to his death in 2005, Senator Nelson prepared a document detailing his original concept for the event and the impetus for its creation.
Interesting to note that a disastrous oil spill off the California coast in 1969 may have been the final straw in polarizing Nelson and other like-minded environmentalists, leading some to declare Santa Barbara as the birthplace of the modern environmental movement.
Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day founder
Modern Earth Day events are curated, so to speak, by Earth Day Network. Their motto is: “Protecting the Earth and its people every day.”
Lofty goals, indeed – and a reminder that one day out of 365 is only a prompt to push all of us to remember the work that needs to be done during the other 364.
[...] out this Earth Day post. It has nothing to do with free stuff you can get or what green steps you can take. It’s [...]
a short history lesson « compact by design said this on April 22, 2009 at 9:56 pm