EXPLORING ECOTOURISM

Reflections on Earth Day

PLANETA FORUM

How do we listen to Earth's distress call?
- Communication Notebook

PHOTO GALLERY: earth

Celebrate Earth Day every day!

BACKGROUND

Earth Day celebrations take place in March and April around the world. Whatever the date, Earth Day is a well-received entry point for those developing environmental awareness, particularly schoolchildren, to begin learning about the issues. Two celebrations are better than one!

MARCH 21 - The United Nations marks Earth Day each year on the vernal equinox (March 21). This Earth Day was founded by John McConnell, a newspaper publisher, as well as the designer of the Earth Flag.

APRIL 22 - U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson introduced the idea to then President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s. Concerned about the lack of national focus on environmental issues, Nelson came up with the idea of an annual date to celebrate the Earth and the environment. Earth Day proved extremely popular. The first Earth Day attracted two thousand colleges and universities, ten thousand high schools and grade schools, and several thousand communities in all, more than twenty million Usians. The celebration has gone global.