Every day, people leave the water running while they brush their teeth and pour their excess oil down the sink drain after cooking. All of these daily tasks contribute negatively to the place that everyone calls home, Earth. April 22 is a day when people come together to celebrate their home by raising awareness for their environment.
Leading up to the creation of Earth Day, there were little to no environmental laws. In 1969, a destructive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, pushed U.S. Senator (then Junior Senator) Gaylord Nelson, who was concerned about the decline of the atmosphere, to create Earth Day in 1970. Nelson recruited young activist Denis Hayes to curate a national staff of 85 people to promote events across America.
The celebration of Earth Day inspired around 20 million Americans to take to the streets and protest against the years of commercial development which had left a legacy of serious human health impacts.
“We, as a whole, need to be more appreciative of the earth. I think Earth Day is a good way of reminding people and ourselves to do our part in keeping the earth healthy,” Staff Writer Georgia Poach says.
Appreciation and awareness are what Earth Day was built on. Since the establishment of the holiday, environmental legislation improved drastically with acts such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Pollution Prevention Act, all of which contribute to the factors of Earth’s decomposing atmosphere.
The most important ingredient for helping Earth and its atmosphere is human activity. Earth Day is the perfect day to start making small changes that in the long run, will make a big difference.
Co-Editor-in-Chief Cameron Street emphasizes, “One of the worst ways to hurt the environment is to simply ignore the issue. Single use plastics are increasing in the consumerism market, creating a foundation for even more waste that will not decompose for a very long time.”
The rise of Artificial Intelligence in the school system also has made significant negative impacts on the environment more apparent. AI data centers use much more carbon emissions and water consumption than a standard search engine, playing a critical role in pollution and energy utilization.
“People use AI like it’s nothing. They use it for jokes, cheating and just conversation. They should be educated more on how AI truly affects the world,” Poach describes.
Earth Day was made to spread recognition about what the earth was and still is going through. It’s not easy being green, but the benefits of change will help the generations to come.
