Issue of the Month: Earth Day – April 22, 2006
Each year, April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day. It is a day that is set aside to focus on and bring international attention to the many challenges that our earth faces, such as ozone depletion and global warming. April 22 was selected because it marks what many consider to be the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The founder of Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson (then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin), proposed a nationwide environmental protest in order to bring environmental concerns to the attention of the U.S. Government. On April 22, 1970, 20 million people in the United States took to the streets in order to demonstrate for increased protection of the environment. This initial event brought people from all walks of life together and is credited with leading to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and to the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts. (http://www.earthday.net/)
The event expanded to the international level, with Earth Day events occurring in many countries around the world. In 1990, 200 million people in 141 countries mobilized for Earth Day in order to bring international attention to environmental issues. This helped lead to the 1992 UN Earth Summit, which took place in Rio de Janeiro. (http://www.earthday.gov/)
In order to survive as a global community, we must become sustainable. Sustainability means meeting the demands of our current society (food, water, etc.) without decreasing the ability of the environment to provide for future generations. Simply stated, sustainability reflects the idea that we should leave the world in a condition that is better than we found it, not take more than we need from the environment, limit the harm that our lives have on the environment, and make amends (clean up!) if harm has been done. (http://www.sustainability.ca)
Ecological footprints are a great way to assess the sustainability of our current lifestyles. Ecological footprints measure how much land and water a human population needs to support itself based on consumption of natural resources and pollution. You can quickly calculate your ecological footprint by visiting the following website: http://www.myfootprint.org.
Did you know?
- For every two barrels of oil that the world consumes, only one barrel of oil is discovered.
- The world consumed the first trillion barrels of oil over 125 years, but it will now only take approximately 30 years to consume the next trillion.
- In the United States, automobiles count for a third of the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are the second largest contributor, after power plants.
- More interesting facts are available at http://www.earthday.net/.
Take Action!
This month, challenge yourself to think of ways that you can make a difference by changing little things in your life. You can help conserve energy and water by turning the lights off when you leave a room, and by making sure that you turn off taps properly after you use them. Remember to reduce how much you use, reuse items that you can, and recycle whenever possible. Many of the websites in the “Useful Links” section contain interesting ideas on how you can take action to help protect the environment.
A key part of environmental sustainability is providing each person in our global community with clean water. While we all need water to survive, we have damaged our supplies of water through contamination, air pollution, and more.
Through the Adopt a Village: Clean Water campaign, you can increase access to clean water in developing countries one family and one village at a time. Find out more!
Useful Links
