By Tyler Dang | Staff Writer
Every year on April 22, individuals celebrate Earth Day. This celebration indicates the anniversary of the first Earth Day that was organized in 1970. Of course, many people know when Earth Day begins, but they do not know how it began.
Earth Day began out of concern for the state of our planet. Day to day, Americans used large amounts of gas for weak vehicles with many factories producing thick, black smoke. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the ‘smell of success,’ undermining the consequences it could behold.
For a while, most of the populated areas of America remained oblivious to the environmental devastation and primary health concerns for humans.
Consequently, because of their low efforts and lack of care, many individuals experienced devastation. Many plants and crops were not producing all that well, and people got sick more often.
However, it was not until the publication of the 1962 bestseller “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson that people became more aware. Concern for living organisms grew just as much as the concern for the environment. People began to link public health with pollution and wanted to make a change.
Junior Senator Gaylord Nelson was one the first advocates for Earth Day and wanted to create a movement similar to many protests happening at the time. He teamed up with Denis Hayes, a young activist, and Pete McCloskey, a congressman, to organize teach-ins on separate campuses.
After countless promotion events, their efforts broadened to multiple organizations and more than 20 million Americans. Inspired, that small percentage of people took the movement to the streets, demonstrating the long term impacts that years of industrial development left. Thousands of colleges and universities led protests against the decaying environment on April 22, 1970.
Over the course of the year, millions fought against oil spills, polluting factories, pesticides, and the likes. By the end of 1970, Earth Day guided the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as well as many environmental laws. These laws assisted the protection of millions of Americans from disease and prevented hundreds of species from extinction.
In 1990, another major campaign was planned, but this time to go global. With over 200 million people participating in over 141 different countries, the large scale organization paved the way for more recycling efforts and many more environmental protection measures.
As of today, many people widely recognize Earth Day as one of the largest observances in the world. With more than a billion people in participation to change human behavior, the fight for a clean environment continues to increase. Even though the permanent effects of pollution and environmental damage cannot be reversed, participating in Earth Day can still help protect the environment and this tradition for many generations to come.