All over the world, on March 20, at the initiative of the UN, Earth Day is celebrated. Earth Day). Moreover, in the calendar of international holidays there are two Earth Days – today is timed to coincide with the Day of the Spring Equinox, and the second – is April 22. The first has a peacekeeping and humanistic orientation, the second – is environmental.
The date March 20 was chosen and officially approved in 1971 by the UN for Earth Day precisely because this time marks the day of the vernal equinox, when the biological rhythm of the planet changes, and it switches to a new round of its development, when nature awakens and its renewal. The UN statement says: «Earth Day – is a special time that is intended to draw the attention of all people to the awareness of planet Earth as their common home, to feel our all-Earth community and mutual dependence on each other».
The founder of this Day is considered to be the famous American public figure John Morton, who in the 1840s launched a campaign to plant trees and shrubs as part of a program of respect for the environment of every citizen of the country. After becoming secretary of the Nebraska Territory, in 1872 he proposed establishing a day to be devoted to landscaping. This is how Tree Day appeared, which immediately became very popular.
During the first Day, the people of the state planted about a million trees, and soon their initiative grew into a social movement. Since 1970, the meaning of the holiday has expanded to the general idea of environmental protection, and a new name has appeared – Earth Day, which has become national. In 1971, the UN officially adopted this holiday, and subsequently it became worldwide, receiving increasing international support every year.
During the first Day, residents of the state planted about a million trees, and soon their initiative grew into a social movement (Photo: Pavel L Photo and Video, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
Today is Earth Day – is a worldwide movement of civil initiatives in defense of the planet as a common global home, uniting many different events and actions, both environmental and environmental, as well as peacekeeping. This is not so much a holiday as a reason to once again think about the problems of a fragile and vulnerable environment, the problems of the relationship between man and the world around him.
Among the most popular events in environmental protection and improvement held on this day in different parts of the planet, – are environmental exhibitions and festivals, marathons and nature conferences, cleaning streets and areas in cities, planting trees and stopping traffic on busy streets of large cities, cultural events and concerts…
It is also worth noting that, according to established tradition, every year as part of Earth Day in the vast majority of countries it is certainly customary to ring the Peace Bell for one minute, which is a symbol of peaceful life, friendship and solidarity of all peoples, and a call to action in the name of preserving culture and the best achievements of humanity. The point of this ceremony is that during this minute, people think about how to preserve the planet, how to improve life on it, feel like inhabitants and part of the Earth.
Environmental promotions – indispensable activities of the Day (Photo: rus09, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
The first Peace Bell was cast in 1954 to commemorate the tragedy of Japanese cities that survived the nuclear bombing and installed at UN headquarters in New York. It is cast from coins collected by children of all continents, orders and medals and other honorary badges of people from many countries are also fused into it. The inscription on the Bell reads: «Long live universal world peace». Then similar bells began to be installed in other – countries Japan (1954), Germany, Poland, Turkey (1989), Mexico (1990), Australia (1992), Mongolia (1993), Canada (1996), Brazil (1997), Russia, Argentina (1998), Ecuador (1999), Uzbekistan (2003) and other countries.
Earth Day also has its own flag depicting one of the first photographs of our planet from Space. This is a sign of the realization that only through joint efforts can global environmental and social problems be solved on Earth. Therefore, it is no coincidence that this holiday is actively supported by astronauts. After all, they were the first to tell the world how beautiful and defenseless our planet is, and how it needs the careful treatment of all of us.