In 1970, US Senator Gaylord Nelson launched Earth Day to spotlight environmental concerns. Activist Denis Hayes led nationwide events. The 2022 global Earth Day theme, ‘Planet vs. Plastics’, underscores the need to lessen plastic use for human and planetary well-being.
The global celebration of Earth Day on April 22 aims to rally support for environmental conservation efforts. Originating from US college campuses in 1970 following a major oil spill in Santa Barbara, Earth Day has grown into a worldwide movement involving over a billion individuals across 192 countries. This year’s theme ‘Planet vs. Plastics’ will be highlighted on Monday as part of the annual event.
In 2016, the United Nations marked April 22nd as the day for the historic Paris Accord—an essential milestone in the fight for our planet’s health. This groundbreaking treaty, endorsed by leaders from 196 nations, stands as a powerful commitment to combat climate change. The Accord sets a collective goal to restrict global warming to 1.5°C, requiring countries to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and reduce them by 43% by 2030.
Earth Day began in the United States in response to a major oil spill off the California coast. Senator Gaylord Nelson wanted to bring attention to environmental issues and saw an opportunity to do so by harnessing the energy of student protests against the Vietnam War.
He worked with activist Denis Hayes to organize educational events on campuses and decided to expand the movement to a national scale. April 22 was chosen as the date for Earth Day to encourage student participation. Hayes and his team spread the word and engaged people across the country, eventually renaming the event to Earth Day for better visibility.
Planet vs Plastics is a movement that brings together students, parents, businesses, governments, organizations, and individuals to push for a reduction in plastic production. Our goal is to decrease plastic production by 60% by 2040 and create a future free from plastic for the health of our planet and future generations.