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April Object of the Month Blog

April 1, 201710:50 amSeptember 25, 2023 10:53 amLeave a Comment

Embrace the Earth

This month’s object of the month is a booklet from the 1980s entitled ‘Embrace the Earth’ the booklet was created by Green CND and is currently on display at the Wild Woods in Darley Street, Bradford as part of our display on Environmental Peace.  The booklet is particular interesting as it displays the link between peace and the environment and illustrates the all-encompassing nature of peace; campaigns were and are not just concerned with people but also, nature, animals and the environment. The environment is brought into particular focus this month with Earth Day.

Earth Day is celebrated every year on 22 April to support environmental protection.  It was first established in America in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson, after witnessing the effects of horrendous oil spoil the previous year in California.  Earth Day was inspired by the anti-war movement and during its first year 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums for peaceful demonstrations of concern for the environment.  It was the first protest of its kind and brought together many different groups that had been campaigning against things such as, oil spills, polluting factories, toxic dumps, and the extinction of animals, as they realised they were fighting for a common cause.  The events of the first Earth Day was heavily publicised and brought concerns for the environment to the forefront of people’s minds. In turn, this lead to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts, during that same year.

20 years later in 1990 the campaign became global and Earth Day is now celebrated by over a billion people in more than 193 countries every year.

Environmental protection is an even more serious issue today, with the effects of climate change and global warming growing rapidly each day.  The campaigning and the struggle continues.

The theme for Earth Day 2017 is Environmental & Climate Literacy. To find out more, follow this link to visit their website: http://www.earthday.org/earthday/ or to find out more about the Wild Woods click here: http://wildwoodsbradford.co.uk/

Written by Ezra Kingston

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