“When life around the globe returns to normal, our world cannot return to business-as-usual.”
—Earth Day Network, the organizing body for Earth Day Worldwide
Each year—since the first Earth Day April 22,1970—marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement. The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.
The UN General Assembly designated April 22 as International Mother Earth Day—where people unite to appreciate and respect earth’s environment.
The concerns then were: pollution, ecology and mass transportation. The concerns today are: climate change, species loss, pandemics and massive natural disasters that might define the future—unless we do something now.
In Boulder, we’re lucky to be part of a community that valued environmental stewardship long before there was a holiday to celebrate it.
Typical ways of observing Earth Day include: planting trees, growing gardens, picking up roadside trash, conducting various programs for recycling and conservation, and using recyclable containers for snacks and lunches.
Starting with the Biden administration convening a global climate summit with world leaders on Earth Day, EARTHDAY.ORG has announced that it will host a multi-hour, multi-channel livestreamed digital event which will feature “artists, musicians, celebrities and more,” alongside “climate leaders, grassroots activists, nonprofit innovators, thought leaders [and] industry leaders.”
The event will begin at noon ET on Earth Day 2021. The event will consist of “workshops, panel discussions, roundtables, films, and special performances” that will focus on “climate and environmental literacy, reforestation efforts, regenerative agriculture, equity and environmental justice, citizen science, cleanups, and beyond.”
“Earth Day’s 2021 theme, Restore Our Earth, focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems, as well as create a green jobs-ready workforce, a green consumer movement, and an educated and civically engaged citizenry around the world,” concluded the post.
Boulder’s Earth Day Activities and Events:
BOULDER.EARTH
A grassroots website, connecting for collective impact around climate action in Boulder.
EARTHDAY.ORG
For tree planting events in the area.
Earth Day Birthday Party at McGuckins
303.443.1822 Nicolette x 2641
GrowingGardens.org:
Let’s Celebrate – it’s Earth Day! At Hawthorne Farm
CU Environmental Center’s Green Labs Program: 50 years of Students in Action. 303.492.8308 ecenter@colorado.edu
Resourcecentral.org:
Waterwise Gardens is a Garden in a Box that focuses on low-water gardening.
