On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet.
That was 50 years ago. Today, we have adapted, learned many lessons, and are making great progress towards becoming globally sustainable and responsible inhabitants of this great planet that we call home.
To celebrate this year, we have partnered with Compost Colorado (loving referred to as CoCo!) and invite all of our Denver area fans to check out their service. It is a fantastic program that makes composting easy-peasy for everyone (including those living in apartments).
- Sign up & get your bucket.
- Fill with compost.
- CoCo will then pick it up and do all the dirty work for you!
And, get this… each week your clean new bucket will be filled with treat! You can order from their marketplace of local merchants or you might find local offers. So cool!!!
So let’s all take one more step towards letting Mother Earth know we love her and return those food scraps, compostable packaging, and even pizza boxes, back to her. She will reward us with blue skies and flowers. And, if you are a CoCo composter, you’ll find a special treat from Alo Goods in your buckets this week…. a free travel sized bar of Tooth Suds!
A global overview of Earth Day
In 1962, author Rachel Carson released book titled “Silent Spring” which went on to be a New York Times Best Seller. The book sold over 500,000 copies in 24 countries as it raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment, the links between pollution and public health, as well as exposing the problems and dangers of DDT pesticides. Then in 1968, we saw the Earth rise over the moon. This amazing view from space brought on a strong “Earth First” consciousness around the globe. Two years later, the first Earth Day celebration took place.
Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin, who came up with the idea as a national day to focus on the environment after he witnessed the ravages of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA in 1969. At the time anti-war protests were also occurring by students. He took inspiration from the energy of these protests and wanted to use the same energy to raise public awareness about air and water pollution as well as force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.
Senator Nelson selected April 22nd as the date because it fell between Spring Break and Final Exams. He built a national staff of 85 people to promote events across the country. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans – at the time 10% of the population of the United States – took to parks, streets and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.
Earth Day 1970 achieved some very rare political alignments, gaining support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders. By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and the Endangered Species Acts. It worked.
When did Earth Day go Global?
Earth Day 1990 mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries and lifted environmental issues onto the world stage. It gave huge boosts to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest honor given to civilians in the United States – for his role as Earth Day Founder.
Earth Day Today
Today Earth Day is recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year. The fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, citizens of the world are rising up to demand action. A new generation of young people are now using digital and social media to bring conversations, protests, strikes and mobilizations to the global audience.
By using what was learned at the first Earth Day while also channeling the excitement of the youth of today, Earth Day is going into its 50th Anniversary this year with an ambitious set of goals to shape the future of 21st Century environmentalism.