Earth Day 2022
By Ayla Kanber, Earth Forward Group
Every year on April 22nd, EARTHDAY.ORG™ has brought the world’s attention to environmental justice. Leading up to the establishment of Earth Day, most Americans were not aware of the negative health impacts brought on by air pollution and more generally, climate change. In 1962, the novel Silent Spring by Rachel Carson addressed public health related to pollution and began a mainstream spark of environmental consciousness. Americans and environmentalists began to express concerns over the leaded gas emissions from inefficient automobiles.
The first Earth Day took place in 1970 and was established after a massive oil spill occurred in Santa Barbara, California. A young activist named Denis Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across America and the effort inspired 20 million Americans to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts. There were thousands of colleges and universities that organized protests against environmental degradation and there were many rallies in cities, towns, and communities all across the United States. Starting in 1990, Earth Day went global to focus on recycling efforts, reaching 200 million people in 141 countries.
After decades of recognizing Earth Day on a global scale, the event has become known as the largest secular observance in the world with over a billion people partaking every year. In recent years, the negative impacts of climate change have worsened environmentally, socially, and politically. People all over the world are becoming more frustrated with political leadership that are not addressing the climate crisis seriously, and are rising up to demand immediate action. For example, the measures taken by most countries to adopt the Paris Agreement in 2015 have not been ambitious or effective enough to lower carbon dioxide emissions significantly.
Earth Day 2022 Theme: Invest In Our Planet
The Earth Day 2022 Theme is Invest In Our Planet. There are so many ways that individuals, groups, and organizations can get involved in Earth Day this year. The Earth Day organization suggests “52 ways to get involved” so that everyone can make a difference, including these tips and so many more:
- Use the internet not trees
- Fight climate change with diet change
- Pick up trash while you run
- Calculate your carbon footprint
- Organize a community cleanup
- Switch to reusable bags
- Turn off lights when not in use
- Buy local food
Additionally, the organization has devised the “Invest In Our Planet” initiatives as part of the Earth Day 2022 Action Toolkit:
- Individuals: As Individual citizens— voters, as watchdogs, and as consumers — we have the simple yet effective power to make our voices heard. What each of us does, and how we do it, has a huge ripple effect on our ecosystems, and on the pace of corporate and government action. We are responsible for holding business, governments, and others accountable and to support their efforts when they get it right. How can we do that?
- Governments: National and local government officials can open new doors by incentivizing their citizens, businesses, and institutions to create and innovate. They can create a fair global economic system to implement these innovations and changes without giving up their role to advance and protect the public’s interests in this transition.
- Business and Investors: Like other economic revolutions, inventors, innovators, businesses, and investors are the most likely to drive significant change. It is time for these change agents to step it up. It is also up to us to require that they create value both for themselves and for society as they drive green innovation.
EARTHDAY.ORG™ organizes many campaigns within the categories Climate and Environmental Literacy, End Plastic Pollution, Conservation and Restoration, Food and Environment, and Act on Climate Change. For example, the End Plastic Pollution movement includes The Great Global Cleanup® — a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks in order reduce waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans. This program aims to continue clean ups every day of the year for a brighter, greener, and cleaner planet.
Another campaign is the Canopy Project, which has been improving our shared environment by planting tens of millions trees across the globe since 2010. The campaign Foodprints For The Future highlights the different ways individuals and institutions can make an impact on their foodprints by reducing meat consumption, sourcing food locally, and more.
In addition, Athletes for the Earth campaign works with athletes, stadiums, teams, organizations, and colleges to embrace green initiatives and promote environmental stewardship. There are also politically-focused campaigns such as Vote Earth, which encourages citizens to support leadership that follows science, promotes sustainability and works to prepare communities for future environmental, economic and health challenges.
Since its establishment, EARTHDAY.ORG™ has generated significant successes in eliciting national and international environmental laws. Earth Day 1970 led to the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Other countries adopted similar laws, and the United Nations chose Earth Day as the day to sign the Paris Climate Agreement into force in 2015.
There are many ways to be engaged and take action on Earth Day and every day of the year. We have a critical window of opportunity right now to shift the global conversation around climate change. The good news is that there is huge momentum toward more sustainable economies. We need to finish the job and make this urgent transition. Making this shift will ensure our future, protect the health of our families, and preserve our livelihoods.
Click here to learn more about Earth Day 2022.
