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 Earth Day 22 April
2010
Earth
Day Founder Gaylord Nelson passed away July 2005 at
the age of 89. He believed strongly that education
is the key to changing people's attitudes about the
environment and he devoted much of his energy to
that challenge. In the section below, which he
prepared not long before his death, he answered some
of the questions he was most often asked about the
how he conceived the first Earth Day, why and what
his hopes for the observance
were.
The
idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of
seven years starting in 1962. Responding to widespread
environmental degradation, Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator
from Wisconsin,
called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day,
to be held on April
22, 1970.
Over 20 million people participated that year, and Earth Day
is now observed each year on April 22 by more than
500 million people and national governments in 175
countries. Senator Nelson, an environmental activist, took a
leading role in organizing the celebration, hoping to
demonstrate popular political support for an environmental
agenda.
Earth
Day proved popular in the United
States
and around the world. The first Earth Day had participants
and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities,
roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and
hundreds of communities across the United
States.
More importantly, it "brought 20 million Americans out into
the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favour of
environmental reform.
Now
events for Earth Day take place all over the
world. It has become fashionable to run events
throughout the weeks surrounding Earth Day so events could
be organized between 14th April - 30th
April. Join the fun and help us support the survival of the
planet for generations to come. School, education
departments, religious establishments, Rotary, WI and other
community groups, even companies can all get involved and
organize an event. See some of our ideas below.
Companies
Schools
Religious Institutions
Groups &
Associations
-
- Ask
about how your group can
have a free talk about our
work
- Organize an event
for Earth
Day
- Find out
how you can reduce your
carbon emissions
Individuals
-
- Ultimate birthday/anniversary
present - plant a tree in the rain forest for a
loved one
- Taking a flight this year? Offset
your carbon emissions through Tolerance
International UK
- Organize an event for Earth Day April 22nd 2010
- Go to our website and work out your personal
carbon footprint!
Please send me information
about how I can take part in Earth Day 22 April 2010
in support of the work of Tolerance International
UK:
Email
your name, c
company/school/organization, address,
postcode and tel to
info@toleranceinternational.org.uk or call our fundraising department on 0207
603 0068.
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