STOCKTON: April is a month that highlights the planet transitioning into spring and as such, many plants begin to grow as the conditions become much more suitable.  There is a recurring holiday that highlights the planet’s growth in the environment.  This holiday is Earth Day, which is celebrated globally on April 22.  Basic knowledge on Earth Day revolves around the idea of celebrating the environment, but it should be known that Earth Day includes additional messages.  One message includes the spreading awareness of precautions needed to protect the Earth’s natural resources for others in the future. 

On April 22 1970, the first Earth Day celebration was held in many American cities, but the main three were Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago.  This celebration was organized by a senator by the name of senator Gaylord Nelson.  During this time, the United States was fighting in the Vietnam War, so there was a mass amount of anti-war protests and movements. Many of these movements were created by students themselves.  Senator Gaylord Nelson wanted to take the energy that came from these protests with the arising problem of air and water pollution.  The real goal of creating Earth Day was to force the idea of creating acts which protect the environment.  Before the 1970’s, there were no such acts in place, such as the Clean Air Act which required the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to protect citizens from pollutants in the air.  In the spring of 1970, over 20 million people celebrated this new holiday, which helped to push Senator Gaylord’s ideas all the way to Congress.  Later in December, Congress created a new agency that would handle environmental issues.  With this holiday being relatively new, there limited ways to get involved. Luckily, there is a yearly Earth Day event that takes place in Stockton. 

Getting involved with Earth day activities has its perks in the city of Stockton.  On April 23,  there is an annual Earth day celebration at Victory Park with free entree.  For those who would like to learn more about the environment, there are exhibitions and art displays which further explain current environmental issues taking place.  For those who would like to take the leisure route, there is live music, food booths, and plenty of entertainment throughout the day.  This event is a great way to show why such a holiday exists and its importance as the world fights through existing environmental changes.  

There are many ways that you can contribute to Earth Day simply from where you live. You can use the classic saying to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Decreasing the things one throws away is a great way to help reduce carbon emissions in the long run.  This also helps with protecting landfill space and conserves natural resources.  Another idea is to attempt to conserve as much water as one can.  Water is obviously an essential resource in day to day life, but there are ways you can cut your time use in half.  Not using water in between activities such as brushing your teeth is a great way to start.  Another way to start is to shorten water usage by taking shorter showers.  All of this effort is to contribute to less runoff and wastewater that will eventually end up in the ocean.  Contributing to Earth Day doesn’t require an individual to do anything great, it can simply just reduce one’s overall waste and usage of natural resources.