On this date in 1970, environmentalists proclaimed the first Earth Day, and here in the United States, the Upshot wrote in 2014, much environmental progress has been made in the years since. We breathe cleaner air, we drive more fuel-efficient cars, we recycle more, rivers don’t burn and the bald eagle is back. And yet we continue to face major environmental challenges, both in the United States and around the world.
What do you think are the biggest problems facing the environment today? How do you celebrate Earth Day, and how do you try to do your part to protect the environment all year long?
Times Topics includes this description of Earth Day:
Nearly 20 million Americans attended the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970, to this day among the most participatory political actions in the nation’s history. In the decades since, Earth Day has spread across the globe with thousands of events in more than 180 countries.
In the beginning, the event influenced environmental politics, triggering such national legislation as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. “Earth Day is a commitment to make life better, not just bigger and faster,” the organizers of the first celebration wrote in their manifesto. “It is a day to re-examine the ethic of individual progress at mankind’s expense.”
Students: Read the entire Times Topics page, then tell us:
— How do you celebrate Earth Day? What, if anything, are you or your family, friends, school or community doing to commemorate the day?
— How do you try to do your part to protect the environment?
— Do you think Earth Day is still meaningful 46 years after the first celebration? Does the holiday help people learn more about the environment, reflect on their behaviors and provoke policy changes?
Related: Earth Day and All Days: 10 Ways to Learn About the Environment
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