April 22 comes and goes every year with little recognition. Better known as Earth Day, it receives little attention, aside from people posting an artsy nature picture on Instagram or briefly tapping through National Geographic's Earth Day Snapchat story. However, this is a day that should be appreciated for more than giving you likes on social media.
Let’s break it down. The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970. Flashback to the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, where American college students (people just like you and me) were aggressively protesting the Vietnam War. All of this passion and this movement (as well as the 1969 oil spill) was inspired Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Nelson wanted to harness this activist mentality to gain the attention of national politics. The goal of Earth Day was, and still is, to educate students about the importance of protecting the environment. Nelson and his team were able to promote the new holiday, and millions of Americans came out to support the cause. Earth Day gained so much attention, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was created (shout out to you, Gaylord).
Flash forward to today, and Earth Day is still as important as it was in 1970. Each year has brought new challenges and campaigns. However, though the OG Earth Day was a hit, the environment has not improved in the ways Nelson was hoping, or at all, actually. Why not, though? Well, we continue to pump bad “stuff” into the air, water and Earth and pretend like we are not individually contributing to the deteriorating environment. But, you’re wrong. Have you calculated your carbon footprint recently? Yikes.
Earth Day is important, and the earth is our home. We need to be treating it like we treat our iPhones, AKA doing anything and everything to make sure it remains in pristine conditions. By doing small things every day, we really can start to better the environment. These things can be as simple as unplugging your phone charger when you aren’t using it and recycling that beer can rather than just tossing it in the trash. On top of that, the U.S. is getting on board with this movement, too.
What a time to be alive. The United States Congress has finally agreed to sign the United Nations climate change deal. John Kerry flew to New York to sign this deal on Earth Day. This deal, known as the Paris agreement, essentially, is a pact claiming that the U.S. is going to work toward a goal of minimizing gas emissions (as well as more legal, economical and environmental jargon). In this case, peer pressure is positive. Literally everyone is going green, which means you should, too. How fitting that it all falls on Earth Day. Good job, U.N. Keep doing you.
