In 1962, Senator Gaylord Nelson decided something needed to be done about the deteriorating state of the environment. However, this wasn’t seen as a problem in the political world therefore making it basically non-existent to the people in power. The citizens of every state saw the effects of their actions on the environment and wanted to do something about it but the opportunity never presented itself. Senator Nelson came up with an idea to propel environmental issues into the political “limelight.”  He decided to discuss the issue with President Kennedy and soon was on a plane to Washington D.C. to meet with Attorney General Robert Kennedy. After coming up with a plan they proposed it to the President who liked the idea. The plan was for President Kennedy to go on a conservation tour to help inform those of the public who were not aware or choose to ignore the obvious sign of environmental degradation, that all of that was about to change. In September of 1963, President Kennedy started his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour. Unfortunately however, the tour did little to further environmental conservation among the politicians.

Six years passed until Senator Nelson came up with the idea of Earth Day while on a conservation tour in 1969 out West. Around this time Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations called “teach-ins” were being held all around college campuses. Nelson thought, why not have a teach-in on environmental conservation. The senator decided to hold a grassroots protest over what was happening to the environment and announced the plan at a conference in Seattle that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment. Nelson was sure that they energy over the anti-war groups would easily filter into helping the environment and he was right. The story over his organization spread like wildfire and finally the American people had a forum to tell the politicians exactly what they needed to hear. Earth Day worked so well due to the grassroots response. They didn’t have the time or the money to spend years getting thousands of demonstrations worked out; the American people didn’t need them. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day, it organized itself.

Disneynature decided to show its appreciation for our planet with their film Earth and their new upcoming film Oceans. These amazing documentaries show us the true beauty and rarity of our planet and why we should appreciate what we have more. On Earth’s opening week Disneynature donated $1 for every ticket sold towards environmental conservation programs. While $1 may not seem like much, it adds up to quite a profit. Disneynature is doing the same for Ocean’s opening week so go out and see all the wonder and amazement that lives in the sea. You just might learn something you didn’t know before.

What you can do for Earth Day is from 7-8pm turn off all the electronics in your house, work place, or wherever you might be. This helps conserve energy and gives you the needed break from our electronic world. And remember, just because Earth Day only happens once a year doesn’t mean you have to stop helping the Earth. Always recycle, don’t waste our world’s natural resources cause we only have what’s available now, don’t litter, and generally make better decisions regarding the Earth.

Thank you to KMAD member Jillian C. for writing this blog about Earth Day.

Source: kmad.org