Earth Day: The Significance of April 22nd

Earth Day is designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It is celebrated April 22 of each year. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, and marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement.

Approximately 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day. The movement has grown drastically since then. In 1990, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated, lifting the status of environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide.

Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated one billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.

Many of us have celebrated Earth Day, most likely during elementary and secondary schooling. Most of us understand the importance of the holiday, but do not know why Senator Nelson chose the particular date of April 22. Senator Nelson’s reasoning is actually very interesting.

Senator Nelson chose the date in order to maximize participation on college campuses. He determined the week of April 19–25 was the best bet; it did not fall during exams or spring breaks, did not conflict with religious holidays such as Easter or Passover, and was late enough in spring to have decent weather. More students were likely to be in class, and there would be less competition with other mid-week events—so he chose Wednesday, April 22; is also the birthday of historical Communist leader of Russia, Vladimir Lenin.

When asked by Time whether he had purposely chosen Lenin’s 100th birthday, Nelson explained that with only 365 days a year and 3.7 billion people in the world, every day was the birthday of ten million living people. “On any given day, a lot of both good and bad people were born,” he said. “A person many consider the world’s first environmentalist, Saint Francis of Assisi, was born on April 22.”

April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in 1872.

Lastly, April 22 is also the birthday of actor Eddie Albert (of Green Acres fame), who was a staunch environmentalist and spokesperson for The National Arbor Day Foundation. Albert spoke at the inaugural Earth Day ceremony in 1970.

Earth Day is an important holiday worldwide. According to Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist, “Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and it brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology.”