On April 22,1970, millions of people took to the streets to protest the negative impacts of 150 years of industrial development. In the U.S. and around the world, smog was becoming deadly, and evidence was growing that pollution led to developmental delays in children. Biodiversity was in decline as a result of the heavy use of pesticides and other pollutants.

The global ecological awareness was growing, and the U.S. Congress and President Nixon responded quickly. In July of the same year, they created the Environmental Protection Agency, and robust environmental laws such as the Clear Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, among many. Earth Day is now a global event each year, with more than one billion people in 192 countries now taking part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.

For Earth Day 2018, we will use the power of Earth Day to mobilize the world to End Plastic Pollution.

Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution

Earth Day Network will leverage the platform of Earth Day 2018, and the growing excitement around the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020, to fundamentally change human attitudes and behaviors about plastics, and catalyze a significant reduction in plastic pollution. Learn more about our strategy to End Plastic Pollution.

Take action to End Plastic Pollution on Earth Day and beyond!

From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet. Join the effort to secure a future free of plastic pollution:

INDIVIDUALS

Learn and act to End Plastic Pollution for yourself and your close communities

Step One: LEARN

• Learn more about this problem in the Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit.
• This toolkit includes information about plastic pollution, a Plastic Pollution Footprint Calculator, and a tool that allows you to create your Personal Plastics Plan and track your progress.

Step Two: ACT

• Use the calculator to learn about your plastic consumption.
• Create your Personal Plastic Plan and track your progress.
• Share photos and stories about what you’re doing personally to End Plastics Pollution–on Earth Day and all year round!
• Tag your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts with #EarthDay2018 #EndPlasticPollution #lessplastic #plasticless
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive updates and sign up to our newsletter.

Step Three: ENGAGE

• Get more information on how to organize events to End Plastic Pollution.
• Register your Earth Day Activity today, and “get on the map” to find other Earth Day activities in your area.
• Tell others about the End Plastic Pollution Campaign.
• Tag your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts with #EarthDay2018 #EndPlasticPollution #lessplastic #plasticless
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive updates.

ORGANIZATIONS

Learn and act to End Plastic Pollution and organize for Earth Day and beyond

Step One: LEARN & EDUCATE

• Learn more about organizing to End Plastic Pollution.
• Download your Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit to use as a resource for your events.
• Use our Earth Day Action Toolkit and Plastic Pollution Teach-In Toolkit to get tips on how to put together your event or teach-in.

Step Two: ENGAGE

• Get more information on how to organize events for and with others on Earth Day.
• Download a Toolkit to organize your Earth Day event.
• Download a Toolkit to Host a Teach In.
• Register your Earth Day Activity today.
• Tell others about the End Plastic Pollution Campaign.
• Share photos and stories about what you’re doing personally to End Plastics Pollution–on Earth Day and all year round!
• Tag your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts with #EarthDay2018 #EndPlasticPollution #lessplastic #plasticless
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive updates and sign up to our newsletter.

EDUCATORS  

Use our resources to teach and help others organize to End Plastic Pollution in your school or university

Colleges and Universities

Earth Day Network’s higher education campaign, MobilizeU, is an international movement of concerned and active students and administrators uniting around their common interest of environmental action in support of a sustainable future for all.

• Download your MobilizeU Toolkit to help you organize campus teach-ins.
• Download your Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit to use as a resource for your events.

Primary and Secondary Schools

This year’s Climate Education Week Toolkit is a web-based, cross-disciplinary resource that includes a range of lesson plans and educational activities focused on the issue of Plastic Pollution. Climate Education Week begins Monday, April 16th and provides a week’s worth of activities leading up to Earth Day on Sunday, April 22nd.

• Download your Climate Education Week Toolkit to help you incorporate lessons on plastic pollution into your curriculum during Climate Education Week.
• Download your Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit to use as a resource for informing and inspiring your students to take action.

The History of Earth Day — celebrating the birth of the modern environmental movement

The first Earth Day in 1970 gave voice to an emerging awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment, and links between pollution and public health. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, deemed that air pollution could no longer be accepted just as the smell of prosperity. No longer could the industry sector belch out smoke and sludge, with little fear of legal consequence or bad press. No, Nelson reckoned that the status quo must be changed.

It was time that environmental protection be forced onto the national political agenda. On April 22, 1970, Nelson’s idea for a national day to focus on the environment was realized. Twenty million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Learn more about thehistory of Earth Day.

This Earth Day and beyond, let’s educate our communities on plastic pollution and inspire and mobilize action to End Plastic Pollution.  #EarthDay2018

* Your pledge will be counted in Earth Day Network’s “A Billion Acts of Green” campaign.  Learn more about thiscampaign.

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