Happy Earth day

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April 22, 2021, will mark 51 years of Earth Day. This is our motherland, which only gives us and takes nothing back from us. So it is our responsibility to save and protect our motherland.

Earth DayĀ is an annual event celebrated on April 22, to demonstrate support forĀ environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.

In 1969 at aĀ UNESCOĀ Conference in San Francisco,Ā peace activistĀ John McConnellĀ proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on March 21, 1970, theĀ first day of springĀ in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary GeneralĀ U ThantĀ at the United Nations. A month later a United States SenatorĀ Gaylord NelsonĀ proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmentalĀ teach-inĀ on April 22, 1970. He hired a young activist,Ā Denis Hayes, to be the National Coordinator. Nelson and Hayes renamed the event “Earth Day”. Denis and his staff grew the event beyond the original idea for a teach-in to include the entire United States. More than 20 million people poured out on the streets, and the first Earth Day remains the largest single day protest in human history. Key non-environmentally focused partners played major roles. Under the leadership of labor leaderĀ Walter Reuther, for example, theĀ United Auto WorkersĀ was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day.Ā According to Hayes, “Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped! Nelson was later awarded theĀ Presidential Medal of FreedomĀ award in recognition of his work.

Photo courtesy of Aruba Flora & Fauna