Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23
Staff Writer
Earth Day is the largest secular holiday celebrated across the globe. It originated at the cusp of the modern environmentalist movement, which began in the 1970s as Americans became more aware of the effects of unimpeded industrialization on the environment and human health. At the time, key events, including the fire on the Cuyahoga River and the success of Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” contributed to a growing fervor among mainstream Americans on environmental issues. Earth Day was originally meant to consist of a group of teach-ins at colleges across the country, an idea pioneered by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. April 22 was chosen as the event date to maximize student participation, as it was midweek and directly between spring break and finals.
Nelson recruited 25-year-old Denis Hayes to organize the event, but Hayes quickly realized that the anti-war movement had a hold on college students’ attention and activist energy. As a result, support for the environmental movement came primarily from young mothers, who had extra time on their hands and a great concern for the environment that their children would grow up in.
With this in mind, Hayes sought to propel the event to a national stage, leading to the establishment of the name “Earth Day” and its transformation into a day of appreciation and action for the environment.
The first Earth Day celebration turned out to be a landmark success, with 20 million Americans engaging in protests and demonstrations to urge leaders to stop rampant industrial activity. There was a collaboration between citizens across class and party lines, and politicians from various levels of government participated and showed support. Seeing the sudden momentum and mainstream appeal of the environmental movement, the Nixon administration and Congress put key environmental policies and government bodies in place, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act.
In 1990, Earth Day moved to a global scale, with people in 141 countries celebrating the holiday. Today, the tradition continues with over 190 countries participating in Earth Day celebrations. Festivities usually consist of individual acts of kindness toward the Earth, including tree planting, clean-ups of beaches and parks and environmental education opportunities.
At Mount Holyoke, an Earth Week will be held in lieu of a one-day celebration, with events such as Play Day, a discussion of the film “Gather” and a webinar on regenerative agriculture.
While Earth Day looks different for everyone who celebrates it, it offers an opportunity to reflect on how consumption and capitalism threaten the environment, serving as a reminder of the urgency to take action against climate change in order to preserve the beautiful planet we call home.