Celebrating Earth Day

April 18th, 2008

How do you plan on celebrating the upcoming Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22?

Earth Day has come under attack by greenies who say you shouldn’t just think about the earth one day a year, but I don’t think that’s the idea. Earth Day started in 1970, and its principal founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, had this to say about the very first Earth Day:

“Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”

The seeds of Earth Day were planted back in 1962 when Nelson persuaded President Kennedy to go on a conservation tour, which began in 1963. The conservation tour didn’t have a dramatic effect, but it put the wheels in motion for the first Earth Day, seven years later.

So, sure Earth Day may seem like an old, unnecessary idea to some, but we need to remember how it represents a time when environmental issues came to the forefront of national attention for the first time.

I’m not really sure what happened to cool the fire between 1970 and now, but we obviously haven’t done enough to protect the environment. Will your children look back and smirk at the idea of this Earth Day that accomplished nothing? What might another 38 years of nearly no change bring about? We don’t really need to find out.

Make some new green goals this Earth Day and celebrate them throughout the year.

Filed under Green Choices | Comments (2)

2 Responses to “Celebrating Earth Day”

  1. Jennifer on April 18, 2008 6:32 pm

    Sooooo. Just who are these greenies attacking ED! Ha, I think that’s me. Although I stand by my ideals that one day a year of “Go earth” is lame, I do see your points – I like that you point out that the whole deal brought the issue forward some – back in the day. We can’t however create any sort of meaningful change by doing earth deeds just one day a year, it’s not enough. I guess I’m saying I’m on both sides, leaning a little more towards the every day vs. one day. :D

  2. Peggy on April 18, 2008 7:12 pm

    Jennifer, LOL! No, I wasn’t referring you to. Thanks for stopping by. : )

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