Girlawhirl loves Earth Day! She gets to be outside, usually in a local park, enjoying the trees with their spring buds, and if she's lucky, she can soak up a little bit of sunshine. Sometimes she volunteers to help out an eco-friendly organization, and she goes home feeling fulfilled that, along with organic eating and a staunch commitment to all forms of recycling, she's trying to do her part. This year she decided to do a little digging into just what Earth Day is all about and exactly how it got started in the 1960s…
It's hard for Girlawhirl to believe, but before the 1960s, the environment wasn't much of a political issue. One politician who was concerned was Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. In 1962, he had the idea to convince President Kennedy to go on a national conservation tour. But even that did little to shine the political spotlight on the environment. In the years that followed, Senator Nelson continued to speak on the subject, and in 1969 he called for a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment to be held the next spring.
The response was overwhelming. Twenty million people turned out to participate in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. That same year, president Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and soon after, all types of environmental legislation began getting passed into law.
The effects of Earth Day have been enormous in ensuring a better quality of life for future generations by increasing attentiveness to eco-issues. For example, according to the EPA, in 1972 only 36 percent of the nation's accessed streams were safe for recreational use. Today, about 60 percent are safe.
Girlawhirl cannot help but be inspired by the efforts of Senator Nelson and the 20 million demonstrators that first celebrated Earth Day. She's thrilled to continue on the path they began and can't wait to see what a future full of hybrid cars, solar power, bio fuels and other technological advances can bring to the cause.
Go Do It!
There are many websites with information on Earth Day, April 22, 2007. Here are a few of Girlawhirl's favorites.
| US Government Portal | www.earthday.gov |
| The Wilderness Society | earthday.wilderness.org |
| Envirolink | earthday.envirolink.org/ |
apr. 21, 2006: acerage. read full entry
apr. 11, 2006: home front. read full entry
feb. 10, 2006: swap and save. read full entry
jan. 26, 2006: solar-stunner. read full entry
jan. 19, 2006: e-cycling. read full entry