The Origins Of Earth Day

April 22, 2008

Ah, Earth Day. Annually marked on the 22nd of every April, unless you work for HOK, in which case it’s Go Barefoot Day. But close enough.

Image from Charming Milo

How did this holiday, which usually only gets play with people like the EG staff and elementary schools, come to pass? And what does it have to do with “Green Acres?”

Earth Day is, without a doubt, the youngest holiday that’s so widely accepted. The term hadn’t even been invented until 1969, when it was announced there was going to be one in 1970.

A creation of Senator Gaylord Nelson, it was designed to become a grassroots movement that would highlight the needs of the planet. Nelson, who had been trying to figure out how to get political attention to swing towards environmental issues since 1962, chose April 22nd and the first round of Earth Day “teach-ins” were held.

Since then, Earth Day has seen increasing support. Millions of people, of all faiths, nationalities, and races celebrate it annually, and 2007 was the largest celebration to date. However, perhaps the most endearing thing about the holiday is the footnote surrounding the reason Earth Day is on April 22nd: Eddie Albert.

Yes, that Eddie Albert: the warden in The Longest Yard, and Oliver on Green Acres. The actor was so active in the early environmental movements that the decision was made when organizing Earth Day that it should be held on his birthday, April 22nd. After this, he proudly spent celebrating the planet, instead of himself, for the rest of his life.

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Written by Ben · Filed Under Green living

Comments

13 Responses to “The Origins Of Earth Day”

Rebecca
Posted: Apr 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm

He seemed an odd fit for ‘Green Acres’, but maybe not, afterall, after reading this! I watched that show and always liked the back and forth between him and Ms. Gabor. He clamored for ‘fresh air’; sounds like there was more to it than just being written in the script! Thanks for sharing this bit of history.

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Lucky
Posted: Apr 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 pm

Hey…………… I,Lucky,& Terrance Cooks would like to tell you about the painting above. Lucky says that here is only one word to describe the painting and that word is beautiful. Terrance says colorful & nice.

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Jazz
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Ok.. Ok… Ok… You caught me… My sixth birthday party (April 22, 1969) got a little out of hand, and as penance, they assigned Earth day to the anniversary of my sixth birthday party…

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Spunky Kneebiter
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Amazing how they did not mention how Earth Day was started to combat Global Cooling.
This kind of Selective Reporting is why the news is such a joke.

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Michael Baccarat
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm

It’s a great young holiday - and it’s great that it’s become so accepted!

Just since 1970 - great progress.

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How
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm

A great tradition was started by a smart individual dreaming of the future. A great visionary who recognized that we ARE the Earth… and to respect ourselves and move forward to change the history of disrespect and destruction to the Earth (and ourselves) required awareness of our connections, and a pledge to respect the Earth from which we come and of which we are.

http://www.Changing-History.com

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GeologyJoe
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm

The progress has been good but there is still a LONG WAY to go.

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Kat Food
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Earth Day was really an event started by corporations whose factories were polluting the air, water and earth all around them. They were getting a bunch of flak from environmentalists, so they decided that having one day a year where they could pretend to care about the environment would be a sufficient act of contrition.

For more information, please refer to the book “Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the PR Industry” by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber

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Bizz
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 5:57 pm

You mean this is an actual holiday? What a joke!
For all the carbon foot printers out there, check this out!:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/europe/23coal.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ei=5088&en=7350eac89a46ac57&ex=1366689600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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Kat food is right
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
10

Kat Food is right on. LOOK IT UP!

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Tony Rusi
Posted: Apr 23rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm

The most visionary ideas for renewable energy involve making energy from devices INTEGRATED with public roads and bridges and buildings. I hope you see the value in promoting this. Future public works projects can literally “pay for themselves” with future energy revenue. This changes everything. Since the fuel is free, “it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

A company in the Netherlands is putting solar thermal collection tubing systems directly in road pavement. A company in Idaho is putting PV cells in the road bed. A company in Vancouver, CA wants to put underwater current turbines under the Tacoma Narrows bridge. A company in Bahrain is integrating windmills into city buildings. Large freeway signs can have windmills built into them.
http://www.ooms.nl/english/pages/divisie_gww/road_energy_systems.html
http://www.azonano.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=1969
http://www.bluenergy.com/projects.html
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/04/10/bahrain-world-trade-center-turbines-activate/?=rssfeed
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/30/proposals-would-turn-highways-into-wind-farms/

Let’s work together, and build an environmentally sustainable future for ourselves, and our children!

Here’s how: Varna of Canada streamlined bikes currently operate under human power alone on the flats at up to 80 mph.

http://www.varnahandcycles.com/hpv.htm

By adding a compressed air engine onboard, they could go up to 100 mph and you could get to work without even working up a sweat.

General Compression, of Boston, is working on Windmill farms that don’t generate electricity, they store energy as compressed air in vast underground caverns.

http://www.generalcompression.com/what-we-do/index.aspx

Infinia, of Kennewick, WA makes solar stirling collectors that could be placed along side freeways to act as sound barriers.

http://www.infiniacorp.com/applications/clean_energy.php

You have to start visualizing transportation as a tree. A tree has roots, a trunk, then branches, and leaves. Roots would be individual transporation like a streamlined bicycle, a trunk might be mass transit and freeways and even more advanced things like a vactrain,

http://www.et3.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain

branches might be two and three passenger vehicles, leaves might be moving sidewalks. We need a system that makes sense from step to step. And there are many other answers.

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Chad Gunter
Posted: Apr 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Ahhh Earth Day! What a great holiday! My dream is to one day see Earth Day as a major holiday for the whole world… a day where everyone takes the time to reflect on clean living and reverence of nature. I don’t think that’s too unrealistic. A woman by the name of Marilyn Laurie recently gave a talk on globalization at the College of Charleston. She was a co founder of Earth Day back in 1970 and now works to encourage corporate social responsibility. Thought that would be worth mentioning. To learn more check this out http://www.cofc.edu/news/storyDetail.html?id=716

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Jimi
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Don’t forget it was Senator Gaylord Nelson’s idea to bring environmentalist ideas into politics and onto the national agenda. I hope in 08 we make sure these candidates stay focused on some of our current environmentalist issues.

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