April 22nd as usual marks Earth Day – but this years event marks a special occasion versus previous years, yet is as important as ever. It is hard to believe that the event this week marks 40 years since the very first Earth Day and its difficult to imagine the environment that existed in 1970 before the idea began. The 1960′s were a very different time (or so I’m told) and following a decade of protests, activism and unrest the time was right for a truly global campaign to take seed in which the welfare of the planet was assessed and hopefully improved. Four decades later it is hard to imagine a society that would manufacture, design and live in a manner where environmental issues were not only ignored but for the most part they were not shared. It has taken years of commitment by millions of people to make Earth Day into the beacon it is today, there are thousands of groups that began as a result of the awareness stimulated by Earth Day and there will be countless more to follow. When you feel weary about the condition of the earth today consider where we were 40 years ago.

So let me take you back 40 years for a moment, political unrest, segregation, hugely divisive wars and an era of protest had engulfed North America and Europe. Music and cultural change were on the front pages for the previous five years and a change was really taking place in terms of participation. Remarkably corporations and manufacturers were permitted to do essentially whatever they wanted, industrial pollution was rampant, rivers and lakes were dying and even flammable. Recycling was not in fashion nor was any notable form of safe disposal of toxins from factories and plants. In 1969 if a housing subdivision needed to be built, impact on animals or flood plains would not have been part of the considerations. In 1969 if a a new highway was needed houses were bought and destroyed and the road would be built with no concern for air and noise pollution.

In 1969 there was no Environmental Protection Agency or Council For Environmental Quality. The Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species List, Clean Water Act, Superfund and Wetlands Protection Acts had yet to be enacted. There was no state Department of Environmental Protection, nor had the National Environmental Policy Act been written. This wasn’t unique to the US – most nations/businesses were acting with few controls and environmentalism was just a phrase and certainly not a movement. This isn’t to say that the general population was happy with the status quo, in fact the 1960′s had created a huge swell of consciousness which sought to create real change in society. There were enough people who demanded a more peaceful, cleaner and equitable planet that the conditions were ideal for a recognized international movement to pull together the ideas, efforts and hopes for a better environment for all. This was the ‘Age of Aquarius’, the peace movement and civil rights movement had both demonstrated the value of activism. Although we had just been to the moon, the youth of 1970 felt we were neglecting our own planet.

It took Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, to see the potential value of an ‘Earth Day’ not just to increase awareness but to show the population the potential for change and demonstrate the actions that could be taken by individuals to green the planet. The media were somewhat supportive in embracing this new idea, the public (especially students) were jubilant as the global potential. 40 years later those original activists would be heartened at the growth and impact of ‘Earth Day’. Later in 1970 the historic ‘Clean Air Act’ was developed and its been upward ever since.

I recommend you watch the CBS news special below from April 1970 hosted by Walter Cronkite to promote the very first Earth Day/Earth Week. A brilliant time capsule to enjoy for a cause that remains as valuable today as it was so many years go. In part two I’ll look at Earth Day 2010.

Tags: 1970, age of aquarias, cbs news, earth day, earth day anniversary, history of earth day, planet forward, recyling, walter cronkite