Earth Day, celebrated April 22, was founded by U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson in 1970 was designed to be a day for the promotion of the environment and its protection. According to the Wikipedia article, the first Earth Day was an unsuspected, raving success. Despite original skeptical predictions of the turn-out, over 20 million people from all demographics, all across the country got out and rallied for the environment. Since its creation 40 years ago, Earth Day has continued to grow in size. The holiday is now celebrated globally, endorsed by the United Nations, and has even spread into Earth Week. An entire week of April designated for the love and protection of planet Earth.
Although Earth Day isn't until the middle of next week, I thought it would be fitting to write an article on it today seeing as I will be attending Spokane's annual Earth Day celebration downtown in only a few hours. The event takes place from 11:00 AM until midnight today, and will feature: community booths, vendors, performances, live music, plenty of food and beverages, and fun activities for people of all ages. Not only is Earth Day a great opportunity for fun, and the protection of the environment, it offers a great opportunity for teaching the next generation about ecology. In my opinion, the best method for ensuring the protection of the planet in the future is to education children, the next generation- and Earth Day is a prime occasion for this kind of education. Some of the specific events occurring are:
- planting vegetable gardens and wildflowers
- a water testing activity
- bicycle endorsement and helmet give-away
- bird-feeder construction
- and arts and crafts made from recycled materials
I'll be off soon to the event... and I promise to take and post plenty of pictures of the proceedings.
- Amber
[inserted images are earth day flags: 1. agreenwayoflife.com, 2. inhabitat.com, 3. teacherweb.com].
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