On 22 April, 1970, founders of the modern environmental movement created and organised the very first Earth Day. Since then, the Earth Day Network — also known as EARTHDAY.ORG — has been mobilising over 1 billion people annually on Earth Day, and working every other day of the year to protect the planet.
So what sparked this revolution in saving the environment, and focused efforts around a day of awareness and action every April? It all started in the United States…
Earth Day’s birthday: why and when it all began
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the US, as technological advancements drove mass manufacturing, energy consumption and resource extraction increased. Industry inevitably creates industrial waste, and for over a century, factories and production plants dumped chemicals into rivers, leached toxins into the ground and spewed fumes into the air.
Unprecedented productivity and growth, yet with no thought for the environmental consequences — and no accountability to the people who suffered or the places that were affected.
Someone had to do the industrial work. How would everyone get to their jobs in the factories and otherwise? From a slow start, between 1900 and 1915 the number of cars in America jumped from just 8,000 to more than 2 million. As the century rolled along, further tens of millions hit the roads, which multiplied and expanded to accommodate them.
In a culture that prized independent movement — often at the expense of developing or improving public transport infrastructure — a car-centric country emerged, with an overwhelming reliance on private cars to get from point A to point B, sometimes with no other option. (In fact, the slow collapse of public transit has only continued to this day.)
All the emissions contaminating the atmosphere took a visible toll. The growing pall of smog over cities from the 1950s into the 1960s and beyond was a sign of the wrong sort of progress: pollution as prosperity. But there was finally something else in the air — a catalyst for change was on the way.
A watershed moment: the dawn of a movement
Late in the 1950s, marine biologist Rachel Carson, having written the highly praised Sea Trilogy about the world’s oceans, became a full-time nature writer. In her next work, Silent Spring published in 1962, Ms Carson spotlighted conservation’s crucial importance and sounded the alarm on synthetic pesticides.
Selling over half a million copies in 24 countries, the book galvanised readers — raising awareness about the links between pollution and public health, and promoting a regard for our environment and all the living organisms in it.
In January 1969, a major spill near the city of Santa Barbara poured millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters off California’s coast, severely affecting wildlife. Intense media coverage fuelled public outrage, and conservation-minded politicians also took notice — in particular, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
Senator Nelson proposed a nationwide environmental ‘teach-in’ at college campuses on 22 April, 1970, and he recruited Denis Hayes, an activist with a lifelong love of nature, to coordinate the effort. The movement expanded to a wider network of organisations and groups across the United States, as more events were planned from coast to coast.
With the creative talents of Madison Avenue advertising boss Julian Koenig on board, the teach-in event became known as Earth Day, a name and concept which gained media attention and captured the national imagination, spurring engagement.
As EARTHDAY.ORG explains, ‘Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts.’ There were participants in 2,000 colleges and universities, about 10,000 primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of American communities.
How the movement’s effects continue to be amplified
The ripples of that first awakening of an environmental movement have reached ever outward as worldwide networks have formed, and as awareness has grown.
In the travel sphere, through a focus on conservation, over time ethical and responsible practices have emerged. Destination-centred tourism came to the forefront in discussions around how we can be an asset as voyagers, instead of a burden. Sustainable tourists realised that we not only have to look after the places we call home, but we must do the same for the destinations we visit.
At Resonate, by putting this responsibility in focus, our contributors and team members have not only raised some big issues, but also offered possible solutions. Subject experts from Jo Hendrickx, who showed how we can find strategies to avoid single-use plastic when travelling, to Jean-Claude Razel, who took us on a transition trip from growth to sufficiency, opened our eyes to shifts in how we can benefit destinations.
Resonate’s co-creators, Linda Veråsdal and Raj Gyawali have also looked at answers to key questions, from Linda’s examination of how eating locally nourishes host communities to Raj’s thoughts on effective ways to help in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As our editor, I myself have tried to highlight ways to tread more gently on the planet, whether we’re leaving no trace of our presence or simply lightening the load.
Everyone in our community takes to heart the idea that every day is Earth Day, and we acknowledge that we have no alternative but to cherish, respect, and protect this big, beautiful blue marble of ours. After all, it’s the only one we have.
What you can you do to be part of the Earth Day movement
While the first Earth Day concentrated on the United States, its national coordinator, Denis Hayes, went on to found the Earth Day Network and took it global, expanding the initiative to 170 nations over the subsequent four decades.
That brings us to today, when EARTHDAY.ORG has become ‘the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries to drive positive action for our planet.’ In 2025, that positive action has a theme of ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ as smart, renewable energy choices took centre stage.
That’s a lot of good work accomplished and still being done, but there’s much more yet to do. And 22 April — or whatever day you happen to be reading this — is the perfect day to consider how we can each be a part of the bigger picture.
Find out more about how you too can stand up, speak up and show up at EARTHDAY.ORG
