Love Earth as you love yourself Earth Day is a day of celebration and awareness for the Earth and how we as humans are destroying it. People seem to forget that eventually most organisms will be eradicated too, so we need to do our best in preserving the Earth too! Earth Day is also a day of celebration as it signifies the birthday of a man who made it his duty to care for the Earth and its inhabitants, Mother Nature. As a result of this dedication, he was given an honorary name as well - 'Saint'. Saint Pope Paul VI was born on March 18, 1914, in Andria, Italy. Being the son of a butcher (to make matters even more interesting), he became interested in science and technology at an early age. His interest in science sparked his passion for everything natural, which made him the right man to lead the Catholic Church. He often frequented museums and read books on scientific evolution. His dedication to the environment started when he became a priest and worried about how his parishioners lived, especially those living in slums without proper ventilation or water. One of his ideas was to give them gardens where they could grow fruits and vegetables at home. It was a brilliant idea which helped get people out of those slums and into better living conditions. It was during his papacy that he decided to make the Vatican a model for environmental responsibility. In 1970, he published his encyclical on the environment, 'Populorum Progression,' which advocated for social justice and care for the Earth and all its inhabitants. ORIGINS OF EARTH DAY The founder of Earth Day is Gaylord Nelson. He came up with the idea of a national day to focus on the environment. Nelson announced this idea as the “National tech-in on the environment” to the country. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organised protests against the deterioration of the environment. Every day Should be Earth Day By celebrating Earth Day, you’re part of a community of over 1 billion people who take part in this holiday every year. Earth Day is about raising awareness about the importance of protecting our planet and taking action. But is it just one day to remember our duties towards the planet? We live on earth, the only planet known to carry life. We breathe its air, drink from its waters, live off its products, build on its soil, dig up its treasures and exploit it to our advantage. And on that one day out of 356, April 22, we sing the Earth’s praise, lament about its sufferings, pledge to care for it and then get back to living just as carelessly and selfishly as we have always been. When people stop noticing and caring about things, special days are set aside in the year — for instance, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Women’s Day, Labour Day, etc. — to raise awareness of issues and problems related to each theme, and motivate people to become proactive about these relationships and issues. But isn’t it wrong to commemorate such important aspects of our lives on a single day of the year when we should remember them each and every day? Our planet is home to more than six billion human beings and countless animals and plants. All its bounties and resources are shared and used by every living creature, but why is it abused by humans only, even the tribal respect and protect the environment. We people living in the cities don’t care about anything but themselves. Not many people realise, and very few accept, is that when we do anything that harms any part of our planet, we are harming ourselves. As of 2022, we prepare to mark the 52 anniversary of Earth Day. But truly it was to be celebrated ever since we were born. We were born on earth, and we grow here. So, why not celebrate it every day? That way there would be no need for a special day to be devoted to it. Earth is beautiful and the only planet where we humans can live on.
Comments