On April 22, countries around the world will gather together to celebrate the Earth in one of the most historic environmental events of the year: Earth Day.
Founded by former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the first Earth Day took place in 1970 and was originally intended.
As a collective environmental protest “to shake up the political establishment and force the issue onto the national agenda.”
Today, the celebration of Earth Day is primarily aimed at raising awareness and encouraging everyday citizens around the world to do their part in preserving the Earth, from recycling to reducing one’s carbon footprint.
Celebrations of Earth Day are as diverse as the cultures themselves. The real beauty of this holiday, however, is the sheer range of events that take place in every country. Here are a couple of highlights to watch out for, both big and small. Students in Bangkok raise recycling awareness.
A community of students in Bangkok are teaching adults the importance of measuring one’s carbon footprint. Sangam Malani, a student at KIS International School in Bangkok, decided to form an Environmental Committee, which would sell cloth bags, recycled plastics and reusable water bottles at his school fair.
Together, the students formed their own booth and promised to donate 100 Baht from whatever they made to an organization called “Bring the Elephant Home,” which aims to restore the natural habitat of elephants by planting more trees.
“We were selling the bags smartly. However, as the day wore on, the customers began to ignore us,” Malani says. “I realized that many of our customers didn’t understand what we meant when we talked about carbon footprint. And at the end of the day, when I found out that we failed to break even, I noted that next time we would use simpler phrases to get our message across.”
This initial setback did not deter Malani and his Environmental Committee from doing more good work for his community. Shortly after the school fair, the Environmental Committee placed new recycling bins around campus to encourage students to recycle their plastics. Malani adds, “Despite setbacks, what we did was that we made an effort to recycle.”
General Motors to release revolutionary electric car
General Motors, the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, is planning on releasing an electric car that practically screams eco-friendly.Proving that going green oftentimes just takes a little creativity and resourcefulness, the Chevy Volt uses recycled blue jeans in its car doors to buffer noise and recycled cardboard in its roof to improve acoustics. Even the door handle brackets are made from old carpet.
The Volt may just be the dream car we have all been waiting for, especially as consumers will be able to save an average of 500 gallons of gasoline per year.
The Volt will also use only 2,520 kilowatts per hour of energy, which is less than a central air conditioning unit, a water heater and a refrigerator.
Because 80 percent of U.S. drivers commute 40 miles or less on a daily basis, the Volt is designed to have to a battery power of up to 40 miles without having to use gasoline.
In addition to the Chevrolet Volt, GM now hosts 55 facilities that are landfill-free, meaning that absolutely no production waste or garbage from these factories can be traced to a landfill. These landfill-free facilities recycle or reuse more than 95 percent of all waste, while the remaining 5 percent are usually converted to energy.
The Climate Rally at the National Mall
The growing dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the lack of a major climate bill are only two of the many environmental problems existing in this country. This is why the Earth Day Network is organizing a climate rally at The National Mall in an effort to encourage Congress to pass effective clean energy and climate legislation in 2010.
The climate rally is the highlight of the Earth Day Network’s nine-day festival at the National Mall, and will feature live music from stars like Sting, The Roots, Passion Pit, John Legend, Bob Weir and Booker T.
Other media figures, including film director James Cameron, Reverend Jesse Jackson, author Margaret Atwood and Olympian Billy Demong will be speaking on the necessity for change on both a national and international scale in the fields of clean energy and global warming.