Earth Day!

Mikayla Brailsford

Tasnim Aziz

Biology Human Body

20 April 2017

Part I.

1. Take notes about the history of Earth Day. Provide a summary of the history of Earth Day.

1. The inaugural Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd, 1970 which marks the birth of the modern environmental movement. In the 1970s, we were blessed with the last Beatles album, we mourned the death of Jimi Hendrix, and we saw students who were staunch opposers of the Vietnam War. During this time V8 Sedans were being pumped with gas by Americans who had little to no care in the world about what was going on. Air pollution was the smell of prosperity. Nobody cared about the environment, it was just a spelling word, more than it was a major issue. Those who did care about the environment were granted a way to use their voice in a more powerful way. They were given Earth Day. This put Environmental Issues on the frontline, and people were going to have no choice but to listen. In 1969, there was a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and then-United States Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin proposed for us to have a day to focus on the environment. The idea came from seeing the anti-war movement, and figured that there should at least be a handful of people who care about this issue. If they rally these troops, environmental issues would be pushed onto the frontline. On the inaugural Earth Day, over 20 million Americans were in streets, parks, and auditoriums for peaceful demonstrations for healthy, sustainable environments in massive rallies. There were colleges and universities that organized protests against the deterioration of the environment, and there were groups of people who realized they had similar values.

2. What organization runs the Earth Day event and why? (i.e. what is the purpose of Earth Day?) What is their role?

1. The organization which runs the Earth Day event is the Earth Day Network. The Earth Day Network runs the Earth Day event because they want to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. The Earth Day Network’s role in Earth Day is to recruit partners in nearly 195 countries to build environmental democracy, and to get people to participate in Earth Day activities each year. The Earth Day Network works to broaden the definition of “environment”, so that the definition includes issues that affect our health and our communities, to diversify, which means to provide opportunities for civil engagement at local, state, national, and global levels around the world, and to mobilize which means to create programs with partners inside and outside of the environmental movement to take on new challenges.

3. What stakeholders are involved in Earth Day?

1. The stakeholders that are involved in Earth Day are Toyota, NASA, UPS,  Southwest, and Connect 4 Climate.

4. Is Earth Day a public health concern? Why or why not?

1. Yes, Earth Day is a public health concern, as there are groups of people who gather to discuss their issues in a peaceful way, in hopes of their voices being heard, and something being done about said issues.

5. How can Earth Day be used to further meet public health needs?

1. Earth Day can be used to further meet public health needs by continuing to use their voices to fight for what’s right.

LINK: https://www.smore.com/mrnbc