April 22nd is known worldwide as Earth Day, the day that we celebrate this beautiful planet. Earth Day was founded by Wisconsin US Senator, Gaylord Nelson when he witnessed the massive spillage of oil in 1969 in Santa Barbra, California. He then set out to inform people of ways to act out on preventing air and water pollution.The world’s first Earth Day took place on April 22nd, 1970 to honor Earth, support for the environment, and promote world peace.
Originally, Earth Day was just celebrated in the United States, but now more than 1 billion people participate from 192 countries. What a great advancement!
Every year on this day, thousands of people step out into the streets and parks cleaning and protesting against companies that spill toxic waste, pesticides, polluting power plants, freeways, and the destruction of the wilderness.
Eventually, Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 2nd 1970. The Environmental Protection Agency’s main goal is to promote research and information which will then be applied into intervention and prevention methods. The EPA shoots to educate awareness among children, families, and healthcare practitioners that regard the prevention of environmentally caused diseases.
Along with EPA, Earth Day inspired the creation of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. These three acts help maintain the conditions of our environment and preserve our natural wildlife. Although Earth Day is a great day to help the world be a cleaner place, we should just have one day designated to cleaning the environment. People should focus on cleaning up the world everyday in order to keep the world a healthier, cleaner, safer, and more beautiful place.
http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement