It's Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day! I'm very excited about this, so today there's a special post! But don't worry, you will still get your Sunday post. I'm going to tell you some background facts about Earth Day so you guys can tell everyone about it! 

In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day. He wanted this day on the calendars so that people would help save the earth. When he arrived in Washington in 1963, he started his Earth awareness with the act against pesticides. Then, in 1969 he witnessed an oil spill in California and it made him double his effort to start a day about Earth. On April 22nd, 1970, Earth Day was born. 

Lots of people don't only celebrate Earth Day, but have the whole week become Earth Week, or even have April be the Earth Month! 

Typically, on Earth Day, people plant trees. Not only do trees provide more oxygen and greenery, they also clean the air and cools things down! If you need more convincing to plant a tree, they are proven to increase your property value by $19,000 or by 5%, and can save you $180 a year on your energy bills! 

If you can't plant a tree, then maybe go for a nature walk to either simply enjoy nature or to pick up litter on a trail. Other things you could do are buy reusable versions of things, for example reusable bags. Did you know that, in the US, they use 100 billion plastic, non-reusable bags every year, and to make these, it uses 12 million barrels of oil! Another example is to buy or use a reusable water bottle. Ditch the plastic water bottles! Two million tons of water bottles have ended up in US landfills despite the fact that it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to make. My last example for this are straws. Straws are not recyclable. Their material is recyclable, but they are too small for the sorting machines and then get lost. You should throw them in the garbage, but it takes 200 years for them to decompose. Instead,  you could buy reusable straws and then you wouldn't need to throw any out! 

Did you know that some people call Earth Day, International Mother Earth Day? In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared it to be International Mother Earth Day in the United Nations. 

On Earth Day in 2009, NASA planted a Moon Tree, a seed that had been flown to the moon and back. The tree is actually a sycamore tree, but it is known much more commonly as the Moon Tree. 

I hope you learned some cool new things about Earth Day! Now you can share these facts with your friends and family. I hope you do something special to help the Earth today. Happy Earth Day! 

-EarthLover24     

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