Essays

The earth Day observed each year on April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth of the modem environmental movement in 1970. Earth Day Founder Gaylord Nelson, then a US Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda". The environmental movement was proposed at a time when air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

However, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Massive coast-to-coast rallies were organized. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. Thus, a rare political alignment was born. It enlisted support from Republicans and democrats, rats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day, eventually, led to the creation of the United States environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean an, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

In 1990, another big campaign was organized which mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries and brought the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Subsequently, near the end of the millennium, another campaign was launched to focus on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000 earth, day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. Around 5,000 environmental groups around the world successfully reached out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events un April 22 varied from a talking drum chain that travelled from village in Gabon, Africa, to hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA. Thus, Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

The Earth Day is presently observed in 175 countries and is coordinated by a non-profit Earth Day Network which was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. The mission of the Earth Day Network is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle lor promoting a healthy, sustainable environment. Its mission is pursued through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns. All campaigns and programs are predicated on the belief that an educated, energized population will take action to secure a healthy future for itself and its children. Earth Day Network has <i global reach with a network of more than 17,000 partners and organizations. In 174 countries More than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world.

Earth day Network's programs and activities promote civic engagement by providing opportunities for all citizens to become active at the local, slate, national and global levels. It helps in broadening the meaning. and definition  of "Environment" to include all issues that affect people's  health their communities and their environment, such as air and  water pollution deteriorating schools, public transportation and access to jobs, rising rates of asthma and cancer, and lack of funding for parks  and recreations. It creates reliable and consistent environmental   citizens among students low-income and minority communities. It calls for a moratorium on coal-fired power plants and a substantial increase in funding and support for renewable energy and green schools. It   inspires and engages college student to become environmental leaders. This can be judged by the fact that nearly half a million students I participated in Earth Day 2008.

Earth Day Network's new Global water Network allows individuals, organizations, or businesses lo help fund water projects in rural areas around the globe. Through  the "Adopt a Water Project" site, water sector stakeholders arc linked on a global scale, enabling them to share water and sanitation-related information and strategies to promote  ecologically and socially sustainable water and sanitation services

No wonder then that Earth Day, April 22, is the largest secular holiday in the world, now celebrated by more than one billion people For earth Day 2010, Earth Day Network created the Billion Acts of green Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to aggregate the millions  of  environmental service commitments that individuals and organizations  around the world make each year—thereby sending a powerful message  that people from all walks of life are committed to solving climate  change. It was observed by more than 500 million people and several national governments in 175 countries. Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

Many cities extend the observance of Earth Day events to an entire week, usually starting on April 16 and ending on Earth Day, April 22.  These events are designed to encourage environmentally-aware behaviors’, such as recycling, using energy efficiently, and reducing or reusing disposable items.

There is also an Earth Day Ecology Flag, which was created by Cartoonist Ron Cobb, published on November 7, 1969, in the Los Anodes Free Press, and then placed in the public domain. The symbol Is a combination of the letters "E" and "0" taken from the words “environment” and "Organism," respectively. The flag is patterned After the United States' flag, with thirteen alternating-green-and-whites stripes. Its canton is green with a yellow theta. Later flags used either a theta,, because of its historic use as a warning symbol, or the peace  symbol. Theta later became associated with Earth Day.

Lately, however, some environmentalists have become critical of earth Day, particularly those in the bright green environmentalism camp. They charge that Earth Day has come to symbolize the marginalization of environmental protection, and the celebration itself has outlived its usefulness.