Earth Day – Help Save The Planet

Back in 1970 Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press.

Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

But one man had a very different agenda. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest and on April 22 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Celebrating it’s 39th anniversary this year, it’s time again for us all to take a another look at our lifestyles and see if we can do something to give mother nature some time out of the firing line of what we call ‘human development’. Gay Nation, (being the caring souls we are), couldn’t help but put together a few ideas for you to try, even if just for a day to help out our little planet.

So without further ado, here are 5 ways the One Nation thinks you can make a simple difference

1. Reduce your car use for short journeys. – A simple idea, yet so many of us don’t do it. Walking or cycling is not only better for the environment, the summer BBQ belly will stay well and truly at bay.

2. Cut down on meat and dairy produce – Livestock need large areas of land to graze that could potentially be used for trees. Did you also know that a cow’s flatulence produces masses of methane, which is some 30 times more concentrated than carbon dioxide!

3. Turn lights off in unused rooms – Lights count for 15% of our home energy usage. This doesn’t require any effort at all, unless you get exhausted pressing your finger against the light switch!

4. Buy more British produce – We have so much choice now thanks to airfreight flying in anything we want from overseas. However aeroplanes are far more polluting than any other transport we use (except perhaps for space travel!). Buying from the UK not only supports our economy but can help save our planet.

5. Run your fridge between 3-5°C – This isn’t going to make your food go off any quicker, but it’ll save you some money running your fridge and will help anyone with sensitive teeth problems!

You can find out what your eco footprint is by visiting footprint.wwf.org.uk

Thanks to earthday.net for providing the Earth Day history. More information about Earth Day and what you can do to get involved can be found at www.earthday.net

• The Gay Nation: Why we’re changing
• Planet Dinosaur – Lost World BBC One and HD
• Miles Owen of Ecotopia.co.uk
• Get The Best Eco Library
• Join the Battle – Gatling Gears