Who cares about Earth Day?

Earth Day is a day founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969 to raise awareness about the Earth’s environment and bring appreciation about it. This day marks the birth of the modern day environmental movement. Among other things, Earth day promotes cleaning the air, improving water quality, and land conservation. The first Earth Day celebration had 20 million citizens march in the streets, take parks, and fill in auditoriums to show what it is to have a sustainable and healthy environment. It brought thousands of organizations together who were fighting against different environment disasters for one common purpose. Then in 1990, Earth Day brought recycling to the forefront. This made way for the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992.

What Chico is doing to celebrate it is holding events down at the Chico State University campus. From 9 am to 3 pm at the BMU Auditorium, the College of Natural Sciences is holding an event in which research will be demonstrated by faculty and students. In the Free Speech area from 10 am to 2pm, AS Recycling has a booth in which they will discuss the quality of tap water, the truth behind bottled water, and have a tasting in which the students can participate to see if they can find the difference between the two. At 11:30 am, there will be a veggie feed in which local businesses will be donating cuisine for a small price to raise awareness on environmental friendly foods.

Although there are some who may think that this day doesn’t mean much, I think this day brings significance much more now than it has before. With advancing technology, we tend to forget that a lot of it damages the atmosphere and environment. This day and the events on campus brings to light these problems so that hopefully we make more efficient decisions. As time goes on, we can only dream of what Earth Day will bring.