Every April 22 since 1970, International Mother Earth Day is celebrated, to demand more actions from governments for the protection of our planet.
In the 1960s, influential environmental activism comes forward, telling us that bad things are happening while governments do little or nothing. At that time, the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) was born in 1961, an organization that seeks the conservation of nature; in 1962 Rachel Carson publishes “Silent Spring”, a book that inspired many fights for the protection of the planet; In 1969, the US senator Gaylord Nelson, seeing the lack of a political agenda for the care of the environment, called a demonstration to demand its protection and demand government action.
Nelson organized a demonstration for April 22, 1970, attended by approximately 20 million people throughout the country, to demand that the US government take action to care for the environment.
As a result of these demonstrations in the late 1970s, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created to protect natural resources; environmental education, protection of the air, water and others also gained political support.
Earth day and the SDGs
The concept of sustainable development was born in 1987, and is defined as "meeting needs without compromising the needs of future generations"; now that they are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were presented in 2015 and are the guide to face the challenges of humanity.
The SDGs that are involved in the struggle manifested on Earth Day are:
SDG 2: Sustainable agriculture;
SDG 4: Knowledge of sustainability;
SDG 6: Sustainable water management;
SDG 7: Sustainable energy;
SDG 8: Sustainable economic growth;
SDG 11: Sustainable cities;
SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption;
SDG 13: Climate Actions;
SDG 14: Sustainable use of the oceans;
SDG 15: Sustainable use of ecosystems;
Simple actions for our planet
5 actions we can do to protect the planet and promote Earth Day:
Use transport that does not pollute, for example the bicycle, or public transport, etc;
Save water, for example during the shower, use the full washing machine, etc;
Separate garbage and recycle;
Turn off the lights or appliances when you are not using them, also use low consumption elements and natural light;
Buying local produces less CO₂;
Phrases for Earth Day
For this day of reflection on what happens on our planet we have the following phrases:
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian pacifist and politician): "You must be the change you want to see in the world";
Martin Luther King (American pastor): “If I knew that the world would end tomorrow, I would still plant a tree today”;
Greek Proverb: "A society grows well when people plant trees whose shade they know they will never enjoy";
Al Gore (American politician, environmentalist, Nobel Peace Prize): "The dichotomy between development and sustainability is false. Without a planet, there is no economy";
Suforall: "To protect our planet we should all know about sustainability";
Organization Earth Day
For more information on this protective movement of our planet earth, you can visit https://www.earthday.org/
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Javier Trespalacios - JT
Suforall - Sustainibility for all
22 avril 2022, Basel (Switzerland)
Earth Day