Senator Nelson said, "(The concept) was a gamble, but it worked,” and Earth Day thrust environmental issues squarely into the national agenda.
Thousands of colleges and universities participated, rallies were held throughout the nation, and Congress was shut down so members could speak at local events. A new, ecology flag was designed and flown. [9] Folksinger, Pete Seeger, was a keynote speaker and performer at the event held in Washington, D.C. Movie stars, Paul Newman and McGraw made headlines when they attended the event held in New York City. [10]
The outcry from the heart of America was heard, and heeded. Just a couple of months later, in July, 1970, President Nixon submitted the Environmental Protection Agency [11] plan to Congress; and the new agency came into being on December 2, 1970.
Earth Day 2008 logo by Adrienne Lay www.RAZASPEAKS.com
Earth Day 2008
This year’s international Earth Day boasts events from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, from Tokyo to Caracas to Durban. In the U.S., the flagship event is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with others in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Denver and San Francisco. One billion participants are expected this year. [12] Events are scheduled throughout the month of April, and are listed on these sites:
http://ww2.earthday.net/all_events for a list of Earth Day events.
http://earthday.envirolink.org/calendar.html compiles a comprehensive list of Earth Day events occurring in 2008, regardless of size, geographic location or organizational affiliation.
But, if you don’t happen to be in Buenos Aries, New York, or Tokyo, or if you want to celebrate more than one day a year, what can you do?
Here are a few choices:
Save Big Money on Household Cleaners and Help the Planet at the Same Time
Pollutants, found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners, are 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than outside of it, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And a person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the "acute one-hour exposure limit" set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment for glycol ether-containing products. [13] All of these toxic exposures can eventually be measured in health-related expenses for humans and their planet.
Shaklee’s Basic H organic household cleaner, an Official Earth Day product, was America’s first, nontoxic, fully biodegradable household cleaner. The Shaklee Corporation has completely offset its CO2 emissions, resulting in a net zero impact on the environment, and was the first in the world to be certified as a climate neutral company by The Climate Neutral Network. In addition, the Shaklee Corporation partnered with 2004 Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai, in planting over 320,000 trees, to date.
Green Belt Movement Founder, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Wangari Maathai
In 2007, the Shaklee Corporation added another "first" to its list of environmental achievements, when it became the first consumer products company to offset 100 percent of its U.S. CO2 emissions, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Climate Leaders program. Shaklee buys 100 percent green or renewable power to meet its purchased electricity needs.
