The history of Earth Day

How the USD community can further the movement

ABIGAIL CAVIZO / ASST. A&C EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

April 22 marks the 55th birthday  of Earth Day. Although it is not technically a national holiday, this day celebrates the modern environmental movement started in 1970. 

Before the birth of the movement, Americans across the country engaged in activities that damaged the environment without thinking about the consequences on the future of the planet. 

The smell of smoke was just a product of innovation. According to Forbes, air pollutants have plummeted by nearly 75% since 1970. The impact water pollutants had on medical problems wasn’t a major concern. 

The Earth Day movement resulted in policy changes such as the Clean Air Act and within the next two years, the Clean Water Act. Before this, people didn’t understand that their actions could have major effects on their community.

At the time, junior senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, wanted to educate younger generations about being environmentally conscious because he knew they could be passionate about making real change after witnessing student-led anti-war protests. Partnering with Congressman Pete McCloskey and activist Denis Hayes, Nelson chose April 22 as the day to spread awareness to college students about the negative ramifications of air and water pollution. 

Due to its success and how an environmental movement impacts more than just college-age students, Hayes inspired various groups nationwide to participate in what’s now known as Earth Day. 

Since 1970, Nelson’s vision changed more with each decade. Now, it’s about more than just anti-pollution: it’s making recycling the norm, it’s the acknowledgement of climate change, it’s bringing together people everywhere to rally and advocate for worldwide policy changes.

Wisconsin native and Environmental and Ocean Sciences (EOSC) minor Sean McAllister doesn’t see a huge difference in environmental policies in  his hometown, but his own interest in what nature has to offer pushes him to advocate for environmental issues. 

“Madison, in general, is a more environmentally conscious area, so I’d say a lot of people at my school and all the people I interacted with always made a big deal about Earth Day,” McAllister recalled. “I decided to minor in EOSC because I’m genuinely interested in the environment and what it naturally has to offer. We’re going down a road right now in which it’s especially important to preserve it or else we’ll lose those valuable spaces.” 

Furthermore, McAllister recognized the beauty of the outdoors and pointed out easy ways of following natural parks’ guidelines.

“Sometimes, people use Earth Day as an excuse to show off a post on Instagram of them outdoors,” McAllister said. “Whenever I enjoy nature, I make sure to follow their policies like ‘Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures.’ I try to take [trash] out and not mess up any of the natural landscapes.”

For the USD community, Torero Program Board (TPB) and Associated Student Government (ASG) partnered up to put together an “Eco Fair” during dead hours from 12:15-2:15 p.m. on April 21 at Colachis Plaza. The event offers a variety of food and drinks, discussions of green topics, and green giveaways open to undergraduate students that would like to participate. 

At the event, the USD Climate Alliance will discuss food injustices, oat milk initiatives, and regenerative farming. USD sophomore and member of the Climate Alliance, Natalie Wright, is specifically tabling a booth about factory farming and its discriminatory practices in regards to animals and humans.

“Each of our groups are focusing on spreading the most amount of information about each of our topics at the Eco Fair and we’re going to have our own events following the tabling after Earth day, so each person can find their own ways to make a difference,” Wright said. “It takes all of us to make a change and each little step is what adds up. For me, I try to limit my meat consumption by pushing vegetarianism and veganism and even though it’s hard in college, just taking it one meal at a time is better than nothing.”

Attending the Eco Fair is a great first step to having environmental awareness in the USD community. The USD Climate Alliance is another resource when considering ways to reduce your carbon footprint. 

By utilizing USD’s resources, the first step to helping the environment starts here. The true purpose of Earth Day can be easily lost amongst the sea of nature-themed social media posts, but these topics need to be continuously discussed for change to happen.