Spring is a time when we begin to experience the miraculous beauty of rebirth and new life all around us. The month of  April is dedicated  to Mother Earth and to raising awareness of the importance of caring for the Earth and to protect and restore balance to our planet.

To set a historical context, Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 to provide a voice for an emerging environmental consciousness. At the time, 20 million Americans were inspired to take to the streets to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts. Thousands of colleges  organized protests against the deterioration of the environment and there were massive coast-to-coast rallies in cities throughout our nation.

Groups that had been fighting individually against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife, all united-on Earth Day around these shared common values. Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders. By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of other first of their kind environmental laws. (Earthday.org)

I’d like to share this 2 min video that expresses what is in the hearts of people and what Earth Day means to them and perhaps us…

“…the care of the earth is our most ancient

and most worthy and, after all,

our most pleasing responsibility. 

To cherish what remains of it,

and to foster its renewal,

is our only legitimate hope.”

-Wendell Berry

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel