Earth Day, Every Day

1970 was a transformational year. The Beatles released Let it Be, their last album together. Jimi Hendrix died, and Black Sabbath released their first album, introducing the world to heavy metal. Apollo 13 launched with astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. Tom Hanks had just turned 14. While most of America was behind the wheel of a V-8 gas-guzzler, the American Motor Company decided to revolutionize the automotive industry with a bold new vehicle, the Gremlin. Keep Virginia Beautiful had been around for a whole 17 years.

1970 was also transformational for other reasons. While Black Sabbath unleashed a torrent of heavy metal on teenaged ears, actual heavy metals and other pollutants had been pouring into our environment for years, and something had to be done about it.

In 1969, while at a UNESCO conference in San Francisco, activist John McConnell suggested a Celebration of Earth, to be held on the first day of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere – March 21st. McConnell worked in plastics in the late 1930’s, and began to realize the effect this miracle substance could have on our Earth. He also was an advocate for peace and love, and in 1957 wrote an editorial called “Make Our Satellite A Symbol Of Hope.” His UNESCO suggestion was sanctioned by United Nations Secretary General U Thant, and on March 21st of 1970, San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto signed the first official American Earth Day Proclamation.

United States Senator Gaylord Nelson founded an April 22nd Earth Day to serve as an environmental teach-in, where academics and advocates could sit side-by-side and design solutions to the problems of pollution and litter. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work.

That first Earth Day saw participants from over 12,000 schools, and hundreds of individual communities. All told, over 20 million people spent a day outside in sunshine, celebrating our Earth and making a commitment to work together to keep it clean and green. Today, hundreds of millions in almost 200 countries around the world will join in that celebration.

While Earth Day still actually falls on April 22nd, this Saturday, April 18th, groups and individuals across Virginia will venture outside to celebrate Spring and profess their love for a beautiful Commonwealth. More exciting to us is that from Tidewater, through Central Virginia, and into the mountains of Southwest Virginia, many of our Earth Day celebrations will be paired with a community greening, beautification, or cleanup project. Winchester is hosting an Earth Day Celebration and Community Shred where people can drop off paper for recycling. Staunton is selling native plants and giving away free tree saplings. Virginia Beach is offering programs about how you can green your life, and hosting it at Mount Trashmore.

Mount Trashmore, by the way, is an abandoned landfill. After decades of collecting detritus, in 1974 it opened as a city park. It has picnic areas, a skatepark (where some older skaters may be enjoying Black Sabbath), hiking trails, play areas, and two lakes. After remediation, many people have chosen the lakes as a favorite fishing spot.Black_Sabbath_debut_album

Our participation will be at Great Shiplock Park in Richmond. This site is on the James River, just below the city proper, and is the transition of the James from rapids to deepwater. At one time, people were discouraged from coming into contact with the river at this point due to the pollutants that made the journey from the James River headwaters. Today it is, like the lakes at Mount Trashmore, a favorite spot for anglers. This is our 22nd Earth Day event, and in true style, we’ll be performing a cleanup along the banks before we dive into music, food, frosty beverages, and hopefully a generous dose of sunshine.

After 60+ years of keeping Virginia beautiful, our work is still not done. And after 40+ years, we’re still not tired of celebrating Earth Day. In fact, we suggest you follow our example, and celebrate it every day.