International Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. We are living on the earth. Earth is the base for all of us. So earth is our mother. The responsibility is to protect our mother or protect to earth. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG (formerly Earth Day Network), including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. Earth Day ringing the peace bell is celebrated around the world in many towns, ringing the Peace Bell and elsewhere. A memorable event took place at the UN in Geneva, celebrating a Minute for Peace ringing the Japanese Shinagawa Peace Bell with the help of the Geneva Friendship Association and the Global Youth Foundation, directly after in deep mourning about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant catastrophe 10 days before.
History of Earth Day:
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, to first be observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a 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 “Earth Day”.
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, China, and some 120 other countries. Numerous communities engaged in Earth Day Week actions, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces. On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary in what is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history.
Why chosen as the official date for Earth day?
The April 22 date was selected in part because it fell between colleges spring break and final exams and also from observance of Arbor Day, which began in Nebraska in 1872, a day when people are encouraged to plant trees.
The “Earth Day” name
The solution to the first problem came from an unexpected direction. Shortly after the turn of the year, a quiet man named Julien Koenig stopped by the national offices and volunteered to help. Koenig was a Madison Avenue giant. His campaign for Volkswagen, “Think Small,” was later cited by Advertising Age as the “greatest advertising campaign of the 20th century.
Earth Day 2001- 2020
Earth Day 2001
Google’s first Earth Day doodle was in 2001.
Earth Day 2003
The theme for Earth Day 2003 was the Water for Life Campaign. This year, Earth Day Network developed a water quality project called “What’s in Your Water?” Water-related events were held on every continent, including water workshops, exhibitions, concerts, and more in Togo, Egypt, the Cook Islands, Jordan, Palestine, Japan, Venezuela, Slovenia, Nigeria, and Canada. Educational curricula, teacher’s guides, water testing kits, and posters focused on water. Campaign for Communities, an initiative led by NAACP, Latino organizations including Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, and other organizations focused on environmental justice,
Earth Day 2004
In the U.S. in 2004, Earth Day Network and its partners focused on voter registration for Earth Day, registering hundreds of thousands of voters. Major tree planting events also took place. Other prominent U.S.
Earth Day 2005
The theme for Earth Day 2005 was Healthy Environments for Children.
Earth Day 2006
Earth Day 2006 focused on science and faith. Earth Day expanded into Europe for Earth Day 2006 and events and speeches were held in most of the EU countries. Key events included the “Festival on Climate Change” in Utrecht, the Netherlands, which was focused on “How to break away from the oil dependence,” and included Earth Day founder Denis Hayes and members of the Dutch and E.U. parliament, NGOs, local authorities, and media representatives. In the first of two years of Earth Day events in Ukraine, Denis Hayes also attended and spoke at the “Chernobyl 20 Remembrance for the Future” conference in Kiev, Ukraine. 2006 also saw events in China organized between Earth Day Network and Global Village Beijing educating communities about energy savings,
Earth Day 2007
Thousands of Earth Day projects were held across the globe that ranged from energy efficiency events, protests, letter writing campaigns, civic and environmental k-12 education trainings, urban and rural cleanups, and water projects with a particular focus on building a broader and more diverse environmental movement. In the US, civil rights, religious, and social justice leaders joined Earth Day Network the week of April 16 through April 20 to demand Congress on behalf of their communities and their constituencies that there be no “grandfathering” of pollution permits, that an immediate reduction in carbon emissions be imposed through legislation and that all revenues generated from a carbon tax or a government auction of carbon permits be used for public benefit..
Earth Day 2008
Earth Day 2008 galvanized millions of people around the world in a Call For Climate. In the U.S., the campaign challenged the public to make one million calls to Congress about pushing for climate change legislation. 2008 also included large climate rallies in eight major U.S. cities including Washington, D.C., New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, to which around 350,000 people attended. The Weather Channel plus scores of other media that carried the Call for Climate message. Many Earth Day events were held around the world from the Earth Day on Campus campaign.
Earth Day 2009
The 2009 National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions reached college campuses, civic organizations, and faith groups across the U.S. As part of this event, members of Congress addressed college and high school campuses in their districts via video conference.
Earth Day 2010 (40th anniversary)
An estimated one billion people around the world took action for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The Climate Rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. drew in more than 150,000 activists to demand that U.S. Congress pass comprehensive climate legislation in 2010. The nine-hour event featured more than 70 high profile speakers, including leadership from the faith, labor, civil rights, environmental communities, the private sector, leading climate scientists, celebrities, Cabinet Secretaries, international political leaders, and local government officials
Earth Day 2011
2011 Earth Day events included an environmental forum for local political leaders and the first ever Earth Day celebration in Tunis City and primary school events throughout Iraq. In 17 of the world’s most severely deforested countries, Earth Day Network completed a project to plant over 1.1 million trees. In September 2011, at the Clinton Global Initiative, President Clinton recognized this project as an exemplary approach to addressing global challenges.
Earth Day 2012
A Billion Acts of Green were achieved on Earth Day 2012, with Earth Day Network announcing the accomplishment at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio. A Billion Acts of Green is billed as the world’s largest environmental service campaign, inspiring and rewarding both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability.
Earth Day 2013
The goal of Earth Day 2013 was to personalize the massive challenge that climate change presents, while uniting people around the globe into a powerful call to action with the theme: The Face of Climate Change. To illustrate that climate change is not a remote problem for our leaders but is impacting real people, animals, and places everywhere.
Earth Day 2014
The goal of Earth Day 2014 was to dramatically personalize the massive challenges surrounding global climate change and weave that into both Earth Day 2014 and the five-year countdown to Earth Day 2020, the 50th anniversary. It was an opportunity to unite people worldwide into a common cause and call for action.
Earth Day 2015
To recognize the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, the 2015 global theme was termed “It’s Our Turn to lead.” That year, Earth Day was a part of the steady drumbeat towards Paris for the UNFCCC COP 21 climate talks that December. With a binding treaty on climate change expected from this conference, this is a pivotal year for the environmental movement.
Earth Day 2016
The theme for Earth Day 2016 was Trees for Earth. India, the Caribbean, Vietnam, and Morocco made substantial government commitments. “Earth Day Network” (now EARTHDAY.ORG) was accepted as an entry on Baidu Baike, a major online cyclopedia in China. Hundreds of mayors across the world participated in Earth Day 2016 primarily focused on urban planning and reforestation.
Earth Day 2017
For Earth Day 2017, Earth Day Network launched the goal of global environmental and climate literacy by 2020. EDN envisioned a world that is fluent in the concepts of climate change and aware of its unprecedented threat to our planet. Environmental and climate literacy is the engine not only for creating green voters and advancing environmental and climate laws and policies, but also for accelerating green technologies and jobs.
Earth Day 2018
Earth Day 2018’s theme, End Plastic Pollution, was dedicated to building a world of educated citizens who understand the environmental, climate, and health consequences of using plastic. Through an online Plastics Pollution Calculator, consumers calculated how much disposable plastic they used in a year and planned how to reduce this amount of waste. A Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit also educated consumers about actions to reduce their plastic footprint.
Earth Day 2019
Earth Day 2019’s theme was Protect Our Species. For this campaign, events and programs spread information about the causes and consequences of growing species extinctions Earth Day Network partnered with Keep America Beautiful and National Cleanup Day for the inaugural nationwide Earth Day Clean Up. Earth Day 2019 also encouraged participants to protect threatened species through educational resources, tree plantings, and a climate action guide.
Earth Day 2020
Earth Day 2020 was the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. As marches and gatherings were canceled due to the COVID pandemic including a large scale event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Earth Day quickly pivoted from mobilizing millions on the ground to raising hundreds of millions of voices digitally to address urgent threats. Over 100 million people took action in 192 countries to honor Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary in what is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history
Earth Day 2021
The theme this year is “Restore our Earth”, and its focus is on natural processes, emerging green technologies and innovative thinking that we can restore the world’s ecosystems.
Significance
· Climate and environmental literacy
· Climate restoration technologies
· Reforestation efforts
· Regenerative agriculture
· Equity and environmental justice
· Citizen science
· Cleanups and more.
World climate leaders, grassroots activists, nonprofit innovators, thought leaders, industry leaders, artists, musicians, influencers, and the leaders of tomorrow will come to push us towards a better world.
Activities
It’s Earth Day, and while every day is technically a day to be kind to the planet, this is a day to show appreciation and get into new habits if needed. There are so many little things you can do to celebrate and help save the Earth, and we’ve got supper easy ideas below:
1. Plant something
Trees not only cool things down (collectively, they can help decrease a city’s temperature by up to 10 degrees) but they also clean the air and give off more oxygen, among a ton of other benefits. Plant one in your family’s yard (if Mom or Dad need convincing, tell them that it’s been proven that trees can increase your property value by 15%).
2. Ride your bike
Find transportation alternatives that help reduce your carbon footprint but get you moving. The fewer cars on the road, the less carbon emissions polluting the air and contributing to global warming.
3. Let your voice be heard
See how you can volunteer with them and participate in the many initiatives they’re already working on. Write an email to your local representative to share your thoughts.
4. Tune in to Earth Day Live
With in-person protests canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Earth Day events are moving on line. Tune in to Earth Day Live, a three-day live stream of teach-ins, musical performances, and panels about what the climate movement is doing.
5. Buy reusable bags
It’s been estimated that Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, and just the production alone for those requires about 12 million barrels of oil. Instead, buy some super cute reusable bags to use when you go to the grocery store. You’ll not only be stylish but eco-friendly as well!
6. Use a refillable water bottle
Just because you’re tossing your plastic water bottles into the recycling bin doesn’t mean they’re not hurting the environment. Buy a reusable bottle, preferably one that has a filter attached to it, so you’ll be getting fresh water every time.
7. Get produce from a local farmer’s market
Besides supporting area businesses, you’ll also be helping the Earth by buying your fruits and veggies local. When you buy locally, it’s transported in shorter distances. So it helps to decrease pollution by transport.
8. Shop smart for clothes
We can do it in a way that’s environmentally friendly! As with any kind of material good, buying something that’s already been used is great for the Earth because it doesn’t involve new resources.
9. Unsubscribe to catalogs
The fact is that over 100 million trees are cut down each year to produce junk mail including catalogs. Plus they usually just end up in the trash anyway. They’ll help you get your name off the mailing lists for all those unwanted pieces of mail.
10. Spend time outside
Sometimes we can be so caught up in what’s happening on Instagram or Keeping up with the Kardashians that we forget how much fun it is to be outside. Earth Day is just a reminder of how beautiful and awesome our planet is. Take advantage of it.
End Words:
Earth day is an annual event that Inspiration to us. “The Earth is what we all house in common”. Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. So we are all spent the time among trees is never time wasted.
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