'Earth Day' Awareness Should Be All Year Long

Earth Day Awareness

By Peggy Hatchet James

April 22 commemorates Earth Day, which represents the birth of the 1970 environmental movement and therefore, Americans have a "day" to reflect and recommit to doing what they can to preserve the earth and its resources. 

While Today is Earth Day 2016, in the traditional sense (in terms of celebration)...we should embrace the responsibility of everyday being a day on earth, thereby making every day an Earth Day.

To fully understand the motivating passion that gave us this day to remember the earth, you have to revisit history, where it all started and measure the gravity of dedication.

"On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values."-- earthday.org 

The above quote helps us comprehend the passion and gravity of dedication connected to the environmental movement of 1970. 

Take particular note of "Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests...", as this points to the serious-mindedness of young people who wanted to ensure that their future on earth would have a chance.

Even in the 70s, young people expressed environmental consciousness, perhaps envisioning and dreading scenes similar to those in the movie "The 11th Hour". 

Earth Day 2016: What's the Progress?

Coincidentally, today, from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, more than 150 world leaders sign the Paris Agreement this Earth Day 2016. Climate Action is indication of progress, however, did we drag our feet?  Evidence of climate change is mounting everyday.

Historic flooding, record-breaking tornadoes and forceful hurricanes trek a path of insurmountable destruction, costing billions in rebuilding efforts. 

The Earth Day concept registered strongly enough that an annual day is set aside for earth-forward reflection. Trailblazers of the Earth Day phenomenon were on to something. They loved our planet enough to organize and rally around earth-sustaining principles. 

On the other hand, what happens to Earth Day after midnight? After the "official" day is passed,  will all its ideals and earth-progressiveness pass too? 

Unfortunately, human action and response are triggered only by trauma. And even then we have short attention spans. The idea and passion for Earth Day has to be a constant presence before the human awareness, otherwise, it sleeps.

Hopefully, earth's inhabitants will learn to respect their temporary home and not dump old furniture on the side of the road or poison the atmosphere with chemically-laced pollution. This is what Earth Day is all about-- each person doing their part to respect Mother Earth.

In turn, she will allow us to live long, healthy and fruitful lives in her midst.