The American Industrial Revolution. Henry Ford Automobiles. The Vietnam War. What do these factors have in common? A combined contribution to establishing a worldwide recognition: Earth Day.
55 years ago, in 1970, America celebrated its first ever Earth Day. In the preceding years, the U.S experienced an industrial boom, and with it, plumes of black smoke and sludge streaked through the streets. Americans remained acutely oblivious to the intense air and water pollution they were creating until 1962, when Rachel Carson’s novel Silent Spring met the masses. This was one of the first exposés on America’s environmental habits and the direct links between pollution and public health, selling over 500,000 copies.
After witnessing the devastating 1969 oil spills in Santa Barbara, California, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson partnered with student activist Denis Hayes to raise awareness. Combined with the Vietnam anti-war movement and student protests, Americans railed together on April 22 for the world’s first ever Earth Day.
AP Environmental Science (APES) and Honors Earth Science teacher Shawn McNamara is dedicated to addressing sustainability throughout the year. During the Earth Day timeframe, McNamara’s APES classes will be looking at waste management and will even visit a wastewater treatment plant.
“There are a ton of issues that Earth Day focuses on,” McNamara said. “Just one of those is focusing on more sustainable energy use. Finding small, easy ways for individuals to leave a bigger impact. Collectively we can have more of an impact, but we have to do things, new things, more individually.”
Amy Ezop, Sarah Koval and Chloe Claufeild, all ’25, are co-presidents of Save the Lakes, a student-led environmental club. They focus on freshwater conservation and ways to promote environmental health.
“Educating yourself on the effects of climate change and ways to conserve are great ways to help,” Ezop said. “You could recycle more, start a backyard compost, or switch to reusable containers and water bottles.”
“It is important to do our part every day and not just on Earth Day,” Koval added.
In their efforts to raise awareness, Save the Lakes will be painting the rock and lining the hall with posters on ways to stay green.
“The most important issue to address is climate change because it is the principal cause of environmental issues,” Claufield said. “By understanding the effects of climate change, we can educate ourselves on how to do our best to prevent them.”
McNamara emphasizes the importance of minimizing the use of plastics, specifically single-use plastics. Most of these plastics do not degrade and cannot be recycled, or they must be recycled in a special, less common way. He recommends walking, biking or even carpooling to minimize vehicle exhaust and practice more sustainable living.
“Offering classes that teach sustainable practices, like AP Environmental, just opens students’ eyes to possible ways to minimize their carbon footprints, because we do leave quite a large footprint individually, and (classes like these) make people more aware of that. We’re not trying to guilt anybody [into saying] ‘what you’re doing is bad,’ but [we’re] just opening people’s eyes to other ways to live conveniently without over-consuming.”
