Celebrate Planet Earth

Earth Day observance remains strong after almost four decades of existence

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By Sarah A. Henderson - April 2009

Nearly 40 years ago, a United States senator from Wisconsin proposed an idea that, quite literally, changed the world.

Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a democrat elected in 1962, was passionate about the environment and founded the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. More than 20 million Americans participated in the national celebration that day, which is thought to have kicked off the modern environmental movement, according to the History Channel's Web site.

The backbone of Nelson's idea, according to history.com, was that the senator thought natural resource protection advocacy was lacking in the Washington political arena at the time. CNN reported that in 1970, only a small number of activists were working on green issues, and those issues merely covered wildlife protection and resource conservation. Nelson noticed no attention was paid to urban problems such as air pollution and drinking-water contamination, both of which are attributed to industrial waste.

As a result of this understanding as well as Nelson's proclamation that every April 22 be Earth Day, millions of people living in both urban and rural areas continue to listen to speeches, participate in protests and rallies, and celebrate through concerts their love and concern for the planet almost four decades after the establishment of Nelson's first holiday.

The first Earth Day spearheaded the establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and also encouraged Congress to pass the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts of the early 1970s.

Since 1970, Earth Day has grown into a worldwide celebration spanning nearly 200 different developed and undeveloped countries, and involving hundreds of millions of people who share environmental concerns for their planet, according to the Earth Day Network, the non-profit group that organizes Earth Day activities.

But there have been other notable Earth Days since the first one. According to the network, Earth Day 1990 marked the year the holiday went global in addition to revamping recycling efforts all across the world. That event also helped prepare global environmental leaders for the upcoming 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Earth Day 2000 was the first worldwide environmental effort to acknowledge the existence of global warming as well as the need for the use of cleaner energy resources such as solar and wind power. Also in 2000, holiday organizers first used the Internet to connect with preservationists and conservationists in more than 180 different countries throughout the world, reaching more than 5,000 environmental groups.

AboutMyPlanet.com, a blog aiming to "deliver green news and tips with a down to earth approach that anyone can apply to their daily life," offers suggestions on how to celebrate Earth Day. The ideas range from traditional community clean-ups, tree planting and taking nature walks, to more contemporary celebratory practices such as carpooling, going to a local Earth Day event and having a garage sale to recycle things no longer used.

But whether one chooses to sit back and relax under a tree or passionately protest against environmental degradation, this April 22, Earth Day is certainly a holiday worth celebrating every day of the year. Happy Earth Day! §

Sarah Henderson is a student in UF's College of Journalism. She may be contacted through the editor: editor@towerpublications.com