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!