Earth Day 2011

     Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.
       Earth Day is a reminder about the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. Most importantly, it reminds us that we can a make a difference when it comes to our planet.
        The Earth Day Network reports more than 1 billion people participate annually in Earth Day activities, making it the largest civic observance in the world. The Earth Day Network works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to spread its green message.

This year’s theme is “A Billion Acts of Green” and the goal is to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before the global Earth Summit 2012 in Rio.