Earth Day is NOT in April, but…

By Don Rittner

You probably think this old environmentalist is breathing in too much clean air! Everyone knows Earth Day is in April, right?

A few years ago, while hosting America Online's Environmental Forum, I received an email from 82 year old John McConnell. John is the man who created Earth Day, back in 1969. John had enlisted my aide in a new project he was creating called the Earth Trustee Stewardship Concept.

I only knew John McConnell previously from press accounts. Here I was working with him thanks to the Net.

John announced Earth Day in San Francisco at the UNESCO Conference on the Environment in September1969. His new idea gained national attention. John thought that all of us should observe Earth Day on the Spring Equinox, a time of natural rebirth and awakening of the planet and an event celebrated by mankind for thousands of years.

On this date John hoped that all people around the world would join their hearts and minds in recognizing humanity’s common habitat, and would strive to preserve and protect the environment.

The first Earth Day celebration took place on March 21, 1970, Spring Equinox, in San Francisco and Northern California. City officials, many schools, churches and others joined in with exhibits, programs about nature, music, sermons and speeches. In San Francisco, the Red Cross transported live plants to schools throughout the city. The University of California at Davis converted the whole campus into an Eco-exhibit.

Also in the spring of 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed an environmental teach-in, to take place on the nation’s university campuses. There was so much student activism towards ending the Vietnam War, he wanted to take this energy and focus it on environmental preservation.

Support for environmental preservation was at new high level since President Nixon had just signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Nelson wanted to capitalize on it.

The date selected by Nelson and organizers was April 22, the birth date of the founder of Arbor Day, which promotes the cultivation of trees to beautify landscapes and assist in healthy urban and suburban ecosystems.

Nelson’s event was at first called an Environmental Teach-In, but the name was changed to Earth Day.

There lies the problem. In 1970, there were two different Earth Days observed. To add even more confusion, an Equinox Earth Day was first celebrated at the United Nations in 1971, and continues annually ever since with a ceremony and the ringing of the UN Peace Bell at the moment of the March Equinox. The ringing of the bell signals two minutes of global silent prayer and heartfelt commitment to think and act as responsible Trustees of Earth.

Three Earth Days? Yup! And we still celebrate Arbor Day, which is the last Friday of April every year.

Furthermore, the United Nations under the auspices of the UN Environment Program has observed World Environment Day (sometimes called Earth Day) on June 5 since 1972.

"Earth Day I (Spring Equinox, March 20-21) – God speaks to us in His creation, on the date when the length of daylight is everywhere the same. From the first announcement of Earth Day in 1969, we recognize the day as a geophysical mark of creation, and respond with a renewed sense of our stewardship responsibility. As stewards of the planet, Earth Trustees, we must think globally and act locally. Our attention is focused on the "given" of our existence, that all we peoples together inhabit planet earth, and therefore we have in common the need to conserve, preserve and restore our habitat.

Earth Day II (April 22) – We celebrate this day as the day which galvanized America’s students to become environmental advocates. It began in 1970 as an Environmental Teach-In on the nation’s university campuses. It continues annually to be a focus for encouraging learning about the environment and for encouraging environmental activism, both public and private.

Earth Day III (June 5) – All nations (both ethno-linguistic groups and political nation-states) respond with policies, programs and promotions at all governmental levels. The first celebration of international recognition of world environmental questions was under the auspices of the United Nations at the Stockholm Environmental Conference in 1972, and was designated World Environment Day. On this day the focus is the governmental response to increased environmental awareness (from Earth Day I) and environmental activism (from Earth Day II).

The above sequence of days has historical, logical, and calendar order. The above days originated in the sequence as given. Their focus is logical, in that I-awareness, II-activism, and III-policy is the logical flow of experience. Finally, the sequence occurs each year in the same calendar order."

In the meantime, John McConnell has created a new program called the Earth Trustee Concept in which you adopt an Earth Magna Carta, certain environmental principles, and live by them. You too can become an Earth Trustee. Entire cities have! You can learn more about them at John's Web site.

John is a great communicator of ideas, but I'm not surprised. He is the son of an independent preacher who drove around the country preaching the gospel, with John and family in the backseat.

There are few people that are as genuinely committed to such peaceful purposes without seeking some monetary gain or ego gratification. John is a man to admire.

John writes on his PC almost every day, has several web sites, and continually is promoting his ideals on the Internet. Shortly after John and I gave a talk in Boston two years ago, he suffered two severe heart attacks, but recovered nicely.

We talk by phone almost every day. I'm still trying to convince John that he doesn't have to call me on the phone to make sure I received his email. :).

John's Web Sites:

©1999 Don Rittner