Friday, April 22, 2011

birth of earth day

Earth Day was founded 41 years ago today as an environmental teach-in by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Inspired by campus activism of the late 1960s, he organized students across the country to devote April 22, 1970 to speaking out about pollution and ecological crises. Twenty years later, the teach-in’s coordinator Denis Hayes made Earth Day international, organizing events in 141 countries. Today, it’s designated by the United Nations as “International Mother Earth Day.” Here’s a few images from the first celebration. Remember hand-drawn balloon type with Magic Markers?




Of course, founders couldn't have predicted how many retailers would learn to enhance their own green by celebrating with enviro-tie-in promotions.




3 comments:

California Girl said...

I remember all this stuff. Love the gas mask poster. God, 40 yrs.

You'll love this. My word verification is: gasped

Ironic.

Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertising said...

Funny about word veri, California Girl. Guess even captcha is environmentally minded these days.

Dominik Imseng said...

You know that "Earth Day" was named by Julian "Think small" Koenig, Helen? April 22 is his birthday, and "Earth Day" rhymes with "birthday."