Earth Day 2015
Help save the Earth!
About Earth Day
In 1962, a man named Gaylord Nelson stated, "For several years, it has been troubling me that the state of the environment is simply a non-issue in the politics of our country". So Nelson went to D.C. to try to convince President Kennedy to take a stand on environmental issues. President Kennedy agreed and set out on a 5 day tour and talked to 11 states. Although this wasn't successful, Nelson didn't give up. He talked to 25 states about his idea and then in 1969, he thought of Earth Day. In 1970, more then 20 million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities participated in the first Earth Day demonstration. With more effort by Nelson, Earth Day became a National Holiday on March 21st, 1971
Ways I will help save the Earth this Earth Day
- Recycle all paper
- Make sure to only run water when I am using it
- Turn off all the lights in the rooms that I am not using
- Reuse plastic water bottles
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Use the back of papers to save trees.
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!
Three of the most important words of Earth Day! Always remember to Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!
Save our forests!
Recycle paper that way we don't have to cut down more trees and we can save the forests!
Recycle your bottles!
Recycle all your plastic bottles! There isn't unlimited plastic on our Earth!
Earth Day Fun Facts!
- The U.S. buried or burned more than 166 million tons of resources – paper, plastic, metals, glass and organic materials – in landfills and incinerators last year
- More than 76% of cardboard boxes and 72% of newspaper were recycled in 2006 but less than 50% of printing and writing paper was recycled
- By reducing our waste 1% per year and recycling and composting 90% of our discards by 2030, we could save 406 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. This is the equivalent to shutting down 21% of our nation’s coal-fired power plants
- Every year in the U.S. nearly 200 billion beverage containers are sold, two-thirds of which are land filled, incinerated or littered
- Gaylord Nelson, the creator of Earth Day was also a U.S. Senator
- In 2009, the UN officially renamed Earth Day to International Mother Earth Day
Earth Day Quiz!
A few questions about Earth Day
Gaylord Nelson
The creator of Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson. Be like him this Earth Day and make a difference to help save the Earth!