Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to watch a TV for three hours – it’s equivalent to half a gallon of gasoline.
“Every day, the saying goes, is Earth Day. But its popularly celebrated on April 22. Why?
Kathleen Rogers, president of Washington, D.C.-based Earth Day Network, which was founded by the original organizers of Earth Day,.. said April 22, 1970, was chosen for the first Earth Day in part because it fell on a Wednesday, the best part of the week to encourage a large turnout for the environmental rallies held across the country.
“It worked out perfectly, because everybody was at work and they all left,” she said.
In fact, more than 20 million people across the U.S. are estimated to have participated in that first Earth Day.
Earth Day is now celebrated every year by more than a billion people in 180 nations around the world, according to Rogers.
… Earth Day’s history is rooted in 1960s activism. The environment was in visible ruins and people were mad, according to Rogers….
Earth Day Evolves
Amy Cassara is a senior associate at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C., who analyzes global environmental trends.
She noted that, since Earth Day started, environmentalism has moved from a fringe issue to a mainstream concern. “As many as 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as environmentalists,” Cassara said.
Environmental issues today, however, are less immediate than dirty air, toxic water, and a hole in the ozone layer, she added.
For example, the impacts of global climate change are largely abstract and difficult to explain “without coming off as a doomsday prognosticator,” Cassara said.
“As we become more industrialized and our supply chains become less transparent, it can be more difficult to understand the environmental consequences of our actions,” she noted.
Earth Day Network is pushing the Earth Day movement from single-day actions—such as park cleanups and tree-planting parties—to long-term commitments.
“Planting a tree, morally and poetically, requires taking care of it for a really long time, not just sticking it in the ground,” Earth Day Network’s Rogers said….
What to Do on Earth Day?
For those whose inner environmentalist speaks loudest on April 22, Earth Day Network’s Rogers encourages them to make a public commitment to take an environmental action.
“We are headed for a billion commitments to do something green,” Rogers said. “And that doesn’t mean think about it—it means do something.”
Commitment ideas promoted by the Earth Day Network include pledging to educate friends and family on global warming or buy green products such as energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).
The commitments are part of a yearlong initiative called the Green Generation, which leads up to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010.”
Excerpts from John Roach National Geographic News Published April 6, 2010. To read the whole article click here.
This blog, these postings, these creatures, this effort from my heart and soul – this is my “commitment to educate friends and family on global warming or buy green products such as energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).” I hope you find yours as well.