What arose from a student movement is now an international holiday: April 22nd is “Earth Day”. We reveal what's behind the holiday and look back at its origins.
 |
| Earth Day 2024: That's why we celebrate Earth Day |
Earth Day 2024: Everything you need to know about International Earth Day
“Earth Day” has been celebrated on April 22nd for over 50 years - a day of action to raise awareness of an environmentally friendly and sustainable way of life. But what is Earth Day actually? And who brought it into being?
What is Earth Day?
Since the first campaign, Earth Day has sought to specifically draw attention to environmental and climate protection issues. Given the current situation, there is no reason to celebrate, but the day is not used to raise a finger, but rather to create sensitivity in dealing with our environment. Year after year, associations, organizations, scientists, media, and citizens use Earth Day as a platform to reach a large number of the population. In Germany, a variety of activities, lectures, and events on the topic of sustainability and climate protection take place on Earth Day - most of them in Frankfurt and Stuttgart. The Earth Day Stuttgart coordination office from the Institute Dr. For example, Flad organizes events together with Greenpeace and Unicef. There are also numerous events in Frankfurt. Earth Day is now celebrated in over 175 countries with a wide variety of focuses; In 2009, the UN also decided to declare the previously unofficial holiday the official “International Mother Earth Day”.
“Planet vs Plastics” is the motto of Earth Day 2024
Every year, Earth Day has a theme that serves as a theme for a variety of activities. “Planet vs Plastics” is the international motto for Earth Day 2024 and aims to motivate people to use water sensibly instead of wasting it. A large part of the waters are now polluted and have become inedible for humans and animals. However, life is not possible without water; in fact, it is essential for humanity and ensures the earth's biological diversity. It is therefore important to keep the waters clean, avoid water waste, reduce plastic consumption and at the same time make better use of rainwater.
Why was Earth Day created?
Earth Day arose in 1970 from a mere student movement. Senator Gaylord Nelson - like many Americans at that time - was already concerned with the increasing environmental pollution in his country in the 1960s. Then there was an oil spill in California in 1969 - a call for Nelson to organize a non-violent protest together with students. In collaboration with the Republican Pete McCloskey and the activist Denis Haye, the event was supposed to take place between spring break and the final exams to mobilize as many students as possible; The date chosen was April 22, 1970. In a very short space of time, it was possible to reach millions of people with a wide variety of political views who demonstrated more environmental awareness and against industrial developments.
Why do we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd?
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the day of action has been celebrated on April 22nd every year. In 1990, Hayes managed to organize an international Earth Day for the first time on the 20th Earth Day. More than 200 million people in 141 countries took action, and then US President George Bush took the special day as an opportunity to proclaim it National Environment Day. In May 2009, the UN also decided to declare the day of action “International Mother Earth Day”.
Earth Overshoot Day
Earth Overshoot Day fell on July 28 last year. This is the day when humanity has used up all the natural resources that the Earth can provide within a year - anything that comes after that exceeds the available resources. Last year we put together ten household tips to slow climate change.
Comments
Post a Comment