Earth Day

Earth Day was first celebrated on March 21, 1970. It is the creation of John McConnell (b. 1915). While working as an industrial chemist in the 1930s, McConnell developed a conviction that it was possible to harness the world’s resources without depleting them. His ecological concerns led him to seek untried sources for new industrial materials: he made plastics from walnut shells and recycled waste. As his commitment to the health of the planet grew, McConnell became a well-known writer, publisher, and activist on ecological issues. In 1969 he presented an Earth Day Proclamation to the mayor of San Francisco. Suggesting practical ways in which the planet’s health could be preserved, he proposed a global holiday to be held on March 21st each year.

The date is significant. March 21st marks the vernal equinox, traditionally recognized as the first day of spring and regarded by many ancient cultures as the New Year. It is the moment that Earth stands in perfect balance between night and day. As Margaret Mead (1901–1978), the anthropologist and Earth Day activist wrote, “The vernal equinox calls on all mankind to recognize and respect Earth’s beautiful systems of balance, between the presence of animals on land, the fish in the sea, birds in the air, mankind, water, air, and land. Most importantly there must always be awareness of the actions by people that can disturb this precious balance.”

In 1970 McConnell called upon U Thant, Secretary General of the United Nations, to support the idea. U Thant was enthusiastic, and on March 21, 1971, the Peace Bell—made from coins collected by Japanese schoolchildren—was sounded for the first time at the UN. Since that first clarion call to ecological awareness and peaceful action, peace bells have been created in towns and cities all over the world. The increasingly contentious issues of pollution and global warming have drawn growing support for the sort of proposals laid down by McConnell and Mead when they jointly established the Earth Society Foundation in 1976: “… to redirect the energies of governments, industries, and individuals away from destruction, waste and pollution of the physical environment and toward the development of products and services which will protect, enhance and improve the condition of the Earth, on the land and sea, and thereby benefit all the citizens of all nations.”

For a festival designed to promote peace and harmony, Earth Day has been the subject of an amazing amount of bickering and ill feeling. In 1970, the Environmental Teach-In organization decided to call a one-off event “Earth Day.” Their event was on April 22nd—which has been known since 1872 as “Arbor Day,” a special day for planting trees. Many people felt that, in the United States and most of the Northern Hemisphere, March 21st was a bit early in the year for a celebration of natural beauty—March could be a little chilly for the kind of field trips and outdoor activities that schools were being encouraged to organize. That was the way the U.S. Government felt in the 1970s when it lent its support to the April 22nd event.

The controversy rages on. John McConnell believes that his creation has been taken from him. Supporters of the April 22nd event acknowledge the principles laid down by McConnell, but prefer to acknowledge them when the weather’s a little warmer.

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