Earth Day: A Retrospective

Today is April 22nd--in other words, Earth Day, a day that was dedicated in 1970 to environmentalism. Over time, the environmental movement has expanded and shifted in scope, but Earth Day has always been something of an iconic moment for it. What most of us seldom think about, even as we buy t-shirs, mugs, bumper stickers, and other products with tacky eco-friendly slogans, is where this tradition of dedicating one day a year to environmentalism came from.
Earth day was the brainchild of Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson was a proud supporter of the environmental movement, which was in its infancy at the time, and suggested having a day when environmentalists like himself could gather and conduct what he called "teach-ins"--that is, events when they could educate the public about conservation.
1970 also saw the passing of major amendments to the Clean Air Act and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency, ushering in what I often call the "fad years" of environmentalism: the environmentalist frenzy of the 1970s. Similarly, Earth Day's 20th anniversary in 1990 was also marked by a major increase in environmental sentiment.
But has the establishment of Earth Day actually affected the protection of the world's ecosystems in the grand scheme of things? That's a complicated question. There's no denying that the first Earth Day in 1970 definitely increased environmental awareness; the fact that it happened during the hippie movement and the protests against the Vietnam War probably helped as well. The concept of ecology--the study of organisms and inorganic factors in an environment and how they affected one another--also became mainstream around this time. The first Earth Day played a significant role in making these things known to the world. But as time went on, Earth Day itself seemed to decline in importance. Today, it is seen more an a marketing opportunity than anything else, a chance for corporations to show off how "eco-friendly" they are.
The effects of the original 1970 Earth Day, however, are still being felt, and if anything that is what we should be celebrating.