Earth Day 2021
Anyone else get equally as excited about obscure holidays as me? I struggle with this because I get so excited but it seems like the rest of the world couldn’t care less, so I hide my excitement and then the holiday passes with pretty much nothing celebrated and it makes me very sad. One of these holidays is coming up; can you guess what it is? (I mean I probably shouldn’t have titled this post with the holiday name if I really wanted you to guess what I was talking about. Oh well.) Ok, you win, it’s Earth Day. Yay!! Doesn’t this seem like the best holiday ever for us to celebrate? It seems right up our alley with trying to make a positive impact on the world around us. With that said, let’s learn a little more about it, shall we?
History of Earth Day
This first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 by Americans. The date of April 22 was specifically picked to be half way between spring break and final exams. They hoped to get as much student involvement as possible. That first Earth Day was celebrated by 20 million Americans, which was 10% of the population at the time. Senator Gaylord Nelson was motivated by the oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA. He decided to create a teach-in and persuaded Congressman Pete McCloskey to co-chair with him. This was when they recruited Denis Hayes to organize the teach-ins. Denis Hayes is often considered the founder of Earth Day. Hayes had a staff of 85 across the nation to help him promote events. Earth Day brought people of all walks of life together, republicans and democrats, rich and poor, urbanites and farmers as well as businesses and laborers. For their 20th anniversary they went global with 200 million people from 141 different countries celebrating. Earth Day is now widely considered the largest secular observance in the world.
Earth Day Success
In recent years we have discovered an increasing urgency to correct our wrongs to the planet with a larger and more vocal group of doubters. The need to celebrate Earth Day has not diminished over the years. Even with all of our advancements, it’s equally important that we put in the effort to protect the Earth from our destructive behaviors and decisions. With all of the negative news we hear lately it is easy to feel like nothing has changed and nothing will. However, while more change is necessary, there have been many successes since the first Earth Day. Since the first Earth Day many acts have been created, including: the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act to name a few. In 1972 another act was passed called the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act. With this act DDT was banned the same year. DDT was a widely used chemical to fight mosquitoes. While a Nobel Prize was originally received for the discovery, it was later found to thin the shell of bird’s eggs. This lead to endangering birds such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons, these birds have since recovered from the brink of extinction. In 1986, after receiving significant criticism from environmentalists, McDonald’s started using biodegradable packaging. This change helped usher in a new era of companies and advocacy groups working together and raised awareness that consumers could make an impact with their daily choices. The hole in the ozone is now healing itself. Asbestos has been phased out of many products. The now infamous, Erin Brockovich won her case against a California utility accused of poisoning groundwater. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone, regaining their place in the food web, restoring the balance of predator and prey, and healing the land and rivers. And there have been so many more successes that it’s hard to know when to stop. There have been more protected lands, removal of dams, species recoveries, tougher standards, and again so much more.
Earth Day 2021
The theme for 2021 Earth Day is Restore Our Earth. What does Restore Our Earth mean? According to Earthday.org, to them, Restore Our Earth means: focusing on natural processes, emerging green technologies, human and wildlife interactions, restoring biodiversity, and most importantly, it reminds of the opportunities that lie ahead. The theme was highly motivated by the pandemic. Earthday.org says, “Climate change and other environmental issues have broken our natural systems, leading to new and fatal diseases and a breakdown of the global economy.” Earthday.org provides a toolkit to help with the theme of Restore Our Earth. In the toolkit, they state, “It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.”
Education
That is a lot of information and the pressure feels a little overwhelming. What do we do with all of this information? Well, the first thing to remember that the “burden” of change does not fall flatly on our shoulders. The best way that we can help is to spread information far and wide and get more people involved with restoring our Earth. Education can be a great tool in making a difference. Oftentimes when we mention change we highlight all of the negative aspects of the change, education can provide all the positives of change too. There are many learning opportunities for us but possibly more importantly is sharing that information. I oftentimes assume that if I know something than obviously everyone else must know it as well. However, if I pay attention a lot of times people don’t know the same things as me. I tell my kids that everyone we meet knows something that we don’t know and we can learn from everyone. In this case, remember that there is something that you know that someone else doesn’t and we should do our best to share that information with them. Remember, knowledge is power. This time of year there are potentially more learning opportunities than normal. The very first Earth Day was meant to be a teach-in and that philosophy is still very much real.
Clean Up
The next thing that we can do to help Restore Our Earth and make this Earth Day a success is to take action. There are many different ways that we can take action. They can often align with our interests as well. It’s easier to make permanent change if it is of interest to you. One of the most common actions that people take around Earth Day is cleaning up. Many towns and organizations arrange clean-ups of parks and other public areas this time of year. In a previous post I told you about an organization that has started in my town, Trash Squirrels. Cleaning with others can help make a less than fun task more fun because you have other people working with you. You can also make it a friendly competition to see who can clean up the most garbage, or find the most unique piece of trash. Another way that you can clean up and make a difference is cleaning up garbage digital files. It’s hard to believe or possibly comprehend but digital storage has a huge environmental impact. In 2015, a study showed that data centers, used to store digital files, are responsible for 2% of global greenhouse gases. This is about the same as the aviation industry.
Plants
One of the next most common actions that people take around Earth Day is planting trees. In fact, Earthday.org recommends the organization The Canopy Project. Planting trees and the reforestation process is one of the cheapest ways to take CO2 out of the atmosphere. The Earth has the capability to store for more carbon than the atmosphere. Reforestation also provides the necessary food web and habitats for animals and insects. Reforestation can also help with air purification, water filtration and regulating temperatures. While it’s great to support organizations that specialize in reforestation it can still leave me feeling a touch helpless. A way that we can support similar changes on a local level, (I don’t know about you but I don’t live in a forest or previously forested area) is to plant native plants. Planting native plants can have similar effects on our local area, reducing carbon in the air, purifying the air, water retention, water filtration, and food webs.
From: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/il/plantsanimals/NRCS141P2_030726/
Citizen Science
Another fun way that we can contribute is through Citizen Science Projects. I’ll be honest, I had never heard of these until my children were watching a show on PBS, called SciGirls. Once I figured out what they were I became a little obsessed. They are the coolest things ever. I still don’t have a lot of knowledge in how to find them (or maybe I just live in an area that is boring to study) but when I do find one I can participate in I get super excited. What is a citizen science project? It is basically a project that a scientist is working on that utilizes the general public to record data. Scientists realize that they do not have enough man power to do all of the research that needs to be done so they enlist the help of others. Earthday.org recommends the citizen science project Global Earth Challenge. A few other sources that you can use to find a project that speaks to you are https://citizenscience.org/get-involved/ and https://www.citizenscience.gov/#.
There are so many other things that can be done to help Restore Our Earth but I find myself feeling like I am rambling. I know it gets hard to read after a while. Has this post given you some inspiration on how to participate on Earth Day? Do you have any other favorite ways to participate? I wish you all the best, don’t forget to invite a friend.
As always, stay positive and much love
Additional Resources:
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/five-successes-celebrate-earth-day
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/environmental-victories-in-photos
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/160422-earth-day-46-facts-environment
https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-network-announces-annual-theme-restore-our-earth/
https://www.earthday.org/toolkit-earth-day-2021-restore-our-earth/