Earth is the biosphere that we live on, and yet, people aren’t always the best to take care of it year after year.
Today, may be different though, as people across the globe celebrate Earth Day, a day set aside to celebrate our planet and increase efforts to improve it by recycling and cleaning up areas of pollution, including beaches, parks and streets all over the world.
Earth Day was started by former Wisconsin senators and governor Gaylord Nelson in the spring of 1970. As an environmentalist, he worked to encourage 20 million Americans in various U.S. states to participate in the celebration, and it worked.
Since then, Earth Day has stood for a day of recycling and environmentalism.
And while humans aren’t the sole cause of global destruction, they do play a large role in it through overpopulation, consumer economy and a lack of recycling opportunities. Through pollution (air, land, noise, water and light), a lot of harm has come to the Earth and its many living creatures.
Jill Bates, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, said it’s important to treat the earth well because of its relation to the plants and animals that need access to clean water, air and land.
“Animals are what makes the ecosystem thrive,” Bates said.
Destruction of animal habitats and over-hunting have led to the extinction of many animals, from the Dodo bird to the West African Black Rhinoceros. And yes, there have been outside forces that have impacted animal habitats, including wild fires and droughts, but the human impact reaches farther.
Many people continue to work to preserve the Earth. At Duncan Middle School, the Green Club started recycling across campus and clean-up efforts for the school garden. The National Junior Honor Society is making plans to clean-up the Heritage Trails and the Duncan High School football stadium. And many other groups and individuals work to make the campus and the community better by picking up trash and recycling.
For more than 50 years, Earth Day has been a celebration of the Earth. DMS students have a chance to join that legacy.
