In just a few weeks, on April 22, millions of people around the world will celebrate Earth Day, a holiday meant to get people thinking about the fate of our one and only planet.
Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 as a sort of environmental teach-in, the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson. Modeled after the enormously successful Vietnam War teach-ins of the era, Earth Day was meant to “stem the tide of environmental disaster” by “presenting the facts clearly and dramatically.” Twenty million people participated in the first Earth Day. Forty-one years later, an estimated 500 million people participate every year.
How will you participate? Here at SMILE we’re hearkening back to Earth Day’s roots. Teach-ins were (and are) meant to be practical, participatory, and action oriented. Howtosmile.org is all about participatory education, and we’re convinced that the first step in getting people to care about and for the environment is to encourage them to know more about the planet on which we live—from how it shifts and settles and erupts, to the flora and fauna it supports. Check out our hundreds of earth-oriented activities, animal activities, and hands-on ways to learn about plants.
Acts of green
There are hundreds of Earth Day events across the country and the world, from Sustainapalooza in Grants Pass, Oregon, to a midnight peace prayer in Navajo Country to a litter clean-up walk in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The theme this year? A billion acts of green. What will your act of green be?
Try this at home
Ask learners to write about what Earth Day means to them, and then to create their own Earth Day symbol.