Earth Day, celebrated in the world on April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. This date is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
History of the April 22 Earth Day
In September 1969 at a conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced that in spring 1970 there would be a nation wide grassroots demonstration on the environment. This occurred during a time of great concern about over population and when there was a strong movement towards "Zero Population Growth."
Responding to widespread environmental degradation, Gaylord Nelson, called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. Over 20 million people participated that year, and Earth Day is now observed each year on April 22 by more than 500 million people and national governments in 175 countries.
Founded by the organizers of the first April 22 Earth Day in 1970, Earth Day Network promotes environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. Earth Day Network is a driving force steering environmental awareness around the world. Through Earth Day Network, activists connect change in local, national, and global policies. Earth Day Network’s international network reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the domestic program engages 5,000 groups and over 25,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a half billion people participate in Earth Day Network campaigns every year.
Significance of April 22
1. The date as the one that could maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an environmental teach-in
2. April 22 was the birthday of Saint Francis of Assisi, world’s first environmentalist.
3. April 21 was the birthday of John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club. This was not lost on organizers who thought that April 22 was Muir's birthday.
4. April 22, 1970 was the 100th birthday of Vladimir Lenin.
5. April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in 1872.
The Earth Day symbol
The Earth Day symbol adopted from ecology symbol which created by Ron Cobb and was published on November 7th, 1969, in the Los Angeles Free Press and then placed it in the public domain. The symbol was a combination of the letters "E" and "O" taken from the words "Environment" and "Organism", respectively. Look magazine incorporated the symbol into a flag in their April 21, 1970 issue. The flag was patterned after the flag of the United States, and had thirteen stripes alternating green and white. Its canton was green with the ecology symbol where the stars would be in the United States flag.
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