By Kaeley Sterkel
Coming up this week on April 22 is Earth Day! This day gives the environmental community the chance to spread consciousness as how to help protect and love the earth.
Earth Day is one of the most widely known environmental awareness days, but many people do not know how it came to be.
The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970, but before this time there was no recognition to the vast amounts of smoke and sludge produced by industry or the consumption of gas through car and the harm it was doing to our planet. During this time humans were completely oblivious to the amounts of pollution they were putting into the earth’s atmosphere. But then tides began to sift in 1962 with the New Your Times bestseller book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. By publishing this book, it brought awareness to millions of people about the concern for living organisms, the environment and the undeniable link between pollution and public health.
After the popularity of the book grew it was not long before Senators and other government
officials felt the need to make a change. Right before 1969 there were groups of students were ready to make a change because of an oil spill that devastated Santa Barbara which began a movement. They created a group with the help of Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin to use their passion to notify the public about the continuous degrading of air and water was formed on April 22 in-between spring break and finals.
After seeing the publics positive response to the book and to the student-based organization there was real potential to inspire all Americans. Soon this group turned into a staff of 85 and promoted issues across the country to broaden the range of the organization. The name soon turned into Earth Day and promoted 20 million Americans across the country to recognize the impact that 100 plus years of industrial development has on our health and the environments health.
The first Earth Day led to the development of the United State Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) which has been the product of many major environmental laws and policies.
The growth that we see today with Earth Day is widely recognized with over a billion people
every year and encourages them to take action.
Here at Stand Up To Trash we know how important it is to stand up for what you think is right and doing what you can to keep our oceans and other ecosystems safe.
This Earth Day make it your mission to inspire somebody else to pick up the trash they see on the way to work or keeping reusable shopping bags in the car for when they go grocery shopping.
How will you celebrate Earth Day?