Invest In Our Planet: Celebrating Fifty-Three Years of Earth Day
Every April 22, millions of people around the world celebrate Earth Day by planting trees, picking up litter, or making pledges to be better stewards of the environment. In 2023, with climate change an all too urgent reality, Earth Day has never felt so important or necessary.
Front page of the New York Times the day after the first Earth Day in 1970. Photo by the New York Times.
HISTORY OF EARTH DAY
The first Earth Day was in 1970. The year before, American citizens were confronted with the grim realities of environmental negligence when an oil well blew out off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, spilling three million gallons of oil in the ocean. One person greatly impacted by what he saw with the oil spill was Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. He had already been a fierce environmental advocate, but when he saw the brutal aftermath of the oil spill, he wanted to raise public consciousness about the importance of environmental stewardship. Senator Nelson saw great leadership and passion from the student led anti-war protests, and he wanted to channel that passion towards environmental conservation as well. Along with activist Denis Hayes, they planned the first Earth Day to fall on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day was a resounding success. It brought groups across the environmental sector together – whether they were protesting oil spills or deforestation or advocating for conservation. More than 20 million Americans participated in rallies, marches, and education programs across the country, it remains the largest single day protest in American history.
The success of the first Earth Day brought about the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many environmental protection laws, such as the National Environmental Education Act and the Clean Air Act. While the first twenty years of Earth Day focused on the United States, by 1990, Earth Day became observed globally. Around 200 million people in 141 countries participated in the first international Earth Day, drawing attention to environmental concerns across the planet.
Earth Day 2022 planting with KKB. Photo by KKB.
EARTH DAY TODAY
As Earth Day entered into the 21st century, the focus shifted towards global warming and a push for clean energy. Since then, the focus has become more and more on combatting the effects of climate change and trying to engage politicians to pass meaningful resolutions to protect our planet.
The Paris Agreement was signed on Earth Day 2016, but its low level ambition created disillusionment for many environmental activists. Of course it is too soon to see the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement, but a 2022 study by Climate Action Tracker found that while progress is being made towards reaching the “systemwide transformations across power, buildings, industry, transport, forests and land, and food and agriculture” laid out by the Paris Agreement, none of the goals are on track to reach their 2030 targets.
For 2023, the Earth Day theme is Invest in Our Planet. According to EarthDay.org, “the theme is focused on engaging governments, institutions, businesses, and the more than 1 billion citizens who participate annually in Earth Day to do their part – everyone accounted for, everyone accountable.”
For Earth Day 2023, Keep Knoxville Beautiful is hosting our seventh annual South Knoxville Community Cleanup. Spreading out across South Knoxville, approximately 350 volunteers will remove litter from roads, parks, and creeks. Our hope with this event is to celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up our community and making it more beautiful for everyone to enjoy.
Get involved this Earth Day
1. Join KKB at the seventh annual South Knoxville Community Cleanup. In 2022, 357 volunteers picked up 10,895 lbs of litter from South Knoxville’s roads, parks, and waterways in just three hours! It was our largest and most impactful event of 2022, and we are hoping to collect even more trash this year! Join us for one of our best events of the year.
South Knoxville Community Cleanup 2022. Photo by KKB.
2. Reduce use of single use plastics. The Tennessee River is one of the most microplastic polluted rivers in the world, and this is often a result of litter making its way from the roadside to our beautiful river. Decrease your use of single use plastics to not only decrease the chance to plastics finding their way to our waterways, but also advocate for your favorite brands or companies to use less plastic packaging.
3. Plant trees. Trees Knoxville is currently working on Knoxville’s Urban Forest Master Plan, which will increase the tree canopy in Knoxville. Get involved in one of their many upcoming events, and let you voice be heard about where you think trees should be planted in Knoxville!
4. Advocate for sustainable fashion. 40 million tons of clothing end up in landfills every year. If you are still doing spring cleaning, consider donating your clothes or utilizing a resale store or website instead of throwing them away. On the flip side, check out resale stores and websites before purchasing new clothes. And whenever you are buying new clothes, check out those same resale stores and websites before purchasing new.
5. Use your voting power to protect the environment. We are still a year and a half away from the 2024 election, but it is never too early to make environmental issues one of your top priorities. The 2022 midterms indicated that climate change will be a big issue in 2024, so use your voting power to advocate for environmental protections on local, state, and national levels.