Each year , Earth Dayis a time to sour our tending toward theenvironmentand put forward knowingness about threat to its well - being , from air pollution toclimate variety . But why does Earth Day crepuscle on April 22 ? Is there anysignificanceto the day of the month ?
When the inaugural Earth Day wassuggestedby Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson and San Francisco activist John McConnell in 1970 , a date was require that would allow for activist attending college to be free to participate , a point made by organizerDenis Hayes . April 22 descend between spring prison-breaking and final exams for most university .
While that was a matter of logistics , April 22 also has a deep meaning . Earth Day was inspired in part byArbor Day , a tree - planting outcome that was organized by Nebraska newspaper publisher Julius Sterling Morton in 1872 . Arbor Day was place for April 10 . Later , when Arbor Day was declared a sound holiday by Nebraska , the res publica respect Morton bychanging the dateto his birthday — April 22 .
McConnell actually preferred theSpring Equinoxfor Earth Day , since marking the changing of the season and a balanced amount of daytime and dark represented Earth ’s unique traits . Because April 22 allowed college students to be more active in the event , however , that was the date that stay put .
The modern Earth Day , with its themed objective lens and upbeat spirit , is a marked departure from the first Earth Day in 1970 , which had demonstrations that edge on protests . ( One enthusiastic radical smashed an honest-to-goodness Chevrolet to excoriate melodic line befoulment . ) While the world spot Earth Day , outside the U.S. it ’s actuallyknown by another name : International Mother Earth Day .
A version of this story ran in 2020 ; it has been update for 2023 .
