Earth Day is an event held on April 22 every year, to show support for the environmental protection of our planet. It was first held on April 22, 1970, and it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG (called initially Earth Day Network). This celebration unites about 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
The official theme for Earth Day 2023 is Invest In Our Planet.
More than a billion people celebrate Earth Day- to protect our planet from terrible things such as pollution and deforestation. By taking part in activities that day, for example picking up litter, collecting recycling, and planting trees, we help in making our world a healthier place to live.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, which would be first observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations.
A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22, 1970. He hired a young activist, Denis Hayes, to be the National Coordinator. Nelson and Hayes renamed the event to what we call it today. Denis and his staff grew the event beyond the original idea for it to include the entire United States. More than 20 million people poured out on the streets. The first Earth Day remains one of the largest single-day protest in American history. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work.
Key non-environmentally focused partners played major roles. Under the leadership of labor leader Walter Reuther, for example, the United Auto Workers (UAW) was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day. Without them, the day would not have happened as it did, according to Hayes Nelson.
The first Earth Day was focused on the United States. In 1990, Denis Hayes, the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international, and organized events in 141 nations. On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a very important requirement for the setting the groundwork for the historic draft of the climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Numerous communities have engaged in Earth Day Week actions all over the world since then, some with an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that our planet faces. On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary. That day's activity is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history.
For more details on this celebration's history, check their Wiki page or the US EPA page.
We celebrate Earth Day by appreciating and respecting the natural world. To do so, we need to make sure we work together to clean and preserve it. After all, we all share the same home.
The environment we live in is bold and strong, but also requires a lot of protection. There are many environmental issues that the world is facing right now, and there's a big push for humans to change our lifestyle for the benefit of the planet, and each other.
For more information on how to help, and what the Earth needs for us to do, visit this UN page.
To see 7 Earth Day Celebrations from around the world, go here.
