Happy Earth Day!. Why did we begin to celebrate Earth Day? Founded in 1970 as a day of education...
-
Upload
bruce-byrd -
Category
Documents
-
view
223 -
download
0
Transcript of Happy Earth Day!. Why did we begin to celebrate Earth Day? Founded in 1970 as a day of education...
Happy Earth Day!
Why did we begin to celebrate Earth Day?• Founded in 1970 as a day of education
about environmental issues• Globally celebrated holiday that is sometimes extended into
Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green awareness.
• Idea from the United States: Senator Nelson was inspired by the antiwar protests of the late 1960s, Earth Day was originally aimed at creating a mass environmental movement.
How did Earth Day become important?
• In 1990, Earth Day went global, with 200 million people in over 140 nations participating, according to the Earth Day Network (EDN), a nonprofit organization that coordinates Earth Day activities.
• Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
• In 2000, Earth Day focused on clean energy and involved hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries and 5,000 environmental groups, according to EDN.
• Activities ranged from a traveling, talking drum chain in Gabon, Africa, to a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
• Today, the Earth Day Network collaborates with more than 17,000 partners and organizations in 174 countries. According to EDN, more than 1 billion people are involved in Earth Day activities, making it "the largest civic event in the world.“
• Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, 40 million environmental service actions toward its 2012 goal of A Billion Acts of Green®, launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over 900,000 community members.
Did you know?• A highlight of the United Nations' Earth Day celebration
in New York City is the ringing of the Peace Bell, a gift from Japan, at the exact moment of the vernal equinox.
Why is Earth Day important TODAY?
What can we do?
• Pledge an action for the environment, by joining the Billion Acts of Green campaign
• We will create a poster with an act of green for our science class
• We will post our act on the website
• I encourage all of you to make your own act of green for the environment!