Earth Day 2023: Everything you should know!
Every year on the 22nd of April, people all around the world unite to promote the awareness of the health of our environment. This day has come to be known as Earth Day. While there are some very popular ways in which individuals engage in support for our beautiful planet such as wearing the colors blue or green, it is important to know the true meaning, objective and significance of Earth Day. This is for us to better show our support and concern with the well-being and future of the planet we call home.
A Brief History
In the year 1969, US Senator Gaylord Nelson was an unfortunate witness to an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Upon witnessing the event and evaluating the extent of the harm it caused the environment, Senator Nelson called for Americans to show more concern for overall health and safety of our planet, implying a change to existing methods that had been damaging the environment. Issues such as air pollution and the destruction of habitat were targeted for revisions. The call for awareness played a huge role in the creation of the very first Earth Day in 1970, as well as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts. Earth Day would go on to become increasingly popular throughout the next 50 or so years and continues to grow!
Ways in which we can engage in Earth Day:
- Earth Day local Activities/Festivities – Search for local events celebrating Earth Day! Events can be found via Google searches, social media networks, or even friends and family.
- Making efforts to reduce your carbon footprint – According to Oxford Languages, a carbon footprint is defined as a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person, group, etc. We can make greater efforts to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible by reducing the use of gas-operated vehicles as least as possible or switching up on other fossil fuels such as lawn mowing equipment and transitioning to electric-based methods. Perhaps you would enjoy a new method of travel such as public transportation or scooter/bikes!
- Reusing and recycling! – Reuse and recycling are some of the most well-known and effective methods in the preservation of our planet and continuing to promote their growth will only make huge differences in the future. Encouraging those around you to recycle as much as possible as well as public places such as stores and restaurants to have recycling bins next to their garbage bins are amazing ways we can promote recycling. We can also buy gently used or thrifted products online as opposed to brand new, as used products use up significantly less resources than new ones.
- Diet changes – Food production accounts for one-quarter to one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, with the majority of the emissions coming from the meat industry. The less we consume red meat moving forward, the less the production and less the emissions!
Through Earth Day, we can all put forth great efforts to ensure the future of our planet is in caring hands. Perhaps the most important aspect of Earth Day is the awareness it brings for our children, who can proceed in their lives prioritizing the health of our planet, as well as spreading word to those generations that will succeed them, creating a chain effect.
Happy Earth Day!
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