Today is April 22nd and as such we are celebrating Earth Day. What is Earth Day and how did it start? Well if you want to learn more about how Earth Day started and what it’s all about please read this excerpt from the Toronto Climate Campaign website:
Background
In April, 1970, the environmental movement burst onto the political stage with one of the largest grassroots demonstrations ever seen. Between 20 and 25 million people, mostly in the United States, answered the call on the first Earth Day. Event organizers were shocked at the response and marveled at the crowd that drew from every constituency: students and seniors; inner cities and small towns; faith groups and hippies.
The success of Earth Day shook the Nixon White House and, over the next year, Nixon spearheaded a series of environmental reforms: creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); regulating fuel efficiency and emission controls in automobiles; enacting laws protecting endangered species and habitats; signing the Clean Water Act; and more. No government before or since has equaled that environmental record and it was the fear of a rising movement that forced Nixon to act.
The Canadian government also reacted to the pressure from below for environmental action by forming a new federal Ministry of the Environment (Environment Canada) in 1971, pulling together various aspects of environmental policy that had previously been under the jurisdiction of a number of disparate ministries. This was followed by the development of environmental laws governing national parks, land use, wildlife and water.
Over the years, corporations began to fund and sponsor Earth Day events, some out of sincere interest, more out of desire to buy “green” credentials. This shifted the emphasis from public rallying to put pressure on politicians and policy makers, to predominantly innocuous and symbolic events. Large scale, interconnected mobilizations were out. Decentralized photo-ops were in. The unfortunate result was, most activists began to ignore Earth Day.
source: http://www.torontoclimatecampaign.org/
So what are you going to be doing for Earth Day? Well you don’t have to make some grand gesture to celebrate Earth Day. Doing small things like being sure to recycle, walking/biking/taking public transit to work, brown bagging your lunch are just a few of the small ways you can celebrate Earth Day. If however you would like to make a much larger gesture you can always gather a small group in your community to help beautify your neighbourhood or local park. Or ,you can take part in the Rally, U-Turn Parade, and Street Festival taking place in downtown Toronto today. Here is more information, if you would like to learn about Reclaiming Earth Day. Whatever you decide to do, make it green and make mother nature proud :)
Happy Earth Day!
