Earth Day used to mean something.  Now, when it rolls around each year on April 22, we pick up some trash or sponsor a poster contest, but that’s not enough. The conservation of our planet is important now more than ever. Of the 31% of Earth’s forests, 80% of those have been destroyed due to deforestation. The last male northern white rhinoceros died at the end of March 2018, leaving the species to inevitable extinction. The United States alone generates 40% of the world’s waste, which almost all goes into landfills. There is currently over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in our oceans.

These problems don’t even begin to scratch the surface; however, we continue to dig ourselves into big, deep holes that will soon be inescapable. 

The first Earth Day was celebrated 48 years ago on April 22, 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the founder of Earth Day, organized a nationwide teach-in about the environmental issues, especially recycling as well as air and water pollution, affecting the nation. Earth Day sparked an explosive movement that ultimately lead to the passing of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. 

Earth Day’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated in two years. In those next two years, we need to work on a plan for such a significant anniversary. It will have to be teens and young adults grabbing the steering wheel and taking control of the course our planet is on right now. Given the current administration’s desire to undermine the efforts of national parks and the EPA,  young people need to step up –we need to go big because we can’t go home.

Excess waste, coupled with littering, is a huge issue. There are always pictures circulating throughout the media about marine life that’s died as a result of the trash they’ve eaten. Over 90% of the debris in our oceans is plastic. Sea turtles, whales, fish and so many other organisms mistake trash for food, and die as a result of consuming it. I propose the Clean Waterways Act. This legislation would penalize any single person or group that pollutes a waterway. This act will also limit the amount of plastic and non-biodegradable materials that are used commercially. For example, paper cups would replace Styrofoam cups at restaurants and reusable bags would be used as opposed to plastic ones.   

Most people don’t typically associate poaching with America, considering the most publicized forms of poaching occur on African savanna’s. In the United States, black bears are poached for their bile and gallbladders, big horn sheep are poached for their horns and sharks are poached for their fins. The Endangered Species Act has been in place since 1973, however its power and credibility has diminished considerably over the years. In 2017, Republicans proposed a bill, as an addition to the act, that would make it harder to protect at risk species covered under the Endangered Species Act. Simply put, this bill would deflate the power the Endangered Species Act has. It would allow all government agencies to ignore everything that’s been done to protect endangered species in the past; pushing the conservation of out planets endangered species to the back burner. We need to update the Endangered Species Act to put stricter controls on this type of illegal activity. We also cannot allow the Endangered Species Act to be overlooked. It’s purpose is very important and our country’s lawmaking body needs to take it seriously.

Forests are the habitat for over half of species worldwide. With the rapid increase in deforestation, we have put hundreds of thousands of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles at risk. A collapse in forest ecosystems would be detrimental. This would start a ripple affect that would affect more than just forest ecosystems; it would affect the stability of the whole planet. It’s not enough to plant trees — we need to do more. I propose the Lorax Law. Despite its cheesy name, the law serves an important purpose. This law would be in place to ‘save the trees,’ just as the Lorax set out to do. It would drastically limit the amount of deforestation that occurs and increase the importance of our national parks. This law would also require trees to be planted to replenish what’s been lost and implement a plan to continue these efforts for years to come. 

What do all of these many issues have in common? Humans. The reckless action of humans and their efforts towards conserving our planet is frankly very disappointing. As the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, we should think about what we can do to turn this around. 

The 20th anniversary of Earth Day sparked a global campaign. 200 million people in 141 different countries came together to amplify worldwide recycling efforts, in particular. That particular anniversary celebration lead to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. On the first Earth Day, thousands of college students organized protests against the deterioration of our environment.

We need to have the same ideas in mind as the participants of previous Earth Days. Students should take this particularly to heart, considering this is our future we’re talking about, and evoke change in their own communities. Students should organize rallies, marches and other events to raise awareness towards environmental conservation. In 2020, I will be a sophomore in college. I expect college students to take the lead in this fight and evoke change for a better future.   

Merchandise is a great way to attract attention for a cause. T-shirts, stickers, stamps, key-chains, bumper stickers, and posters are great ways to gain support towards a cause. Schools can sell Earth Day merchandise and have all the proceeds go towards saving endangered species or beach clean-ups. Little things like this are attention-grabbing and are a great way to spread awareness for a cause. 

Environmental issues aren’t typically discussed by our country’s legislative bodies. We need to make the environment a topic of conversation if we care about state of our planet for the future. As I said before, the first Earth Day lead to the passing of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. On the 50th anniversary, we should have a similar goal. We should work to pass the Clean Waterways Act and the Lorax Law. 

Lots of states already have their 2018 Earth Day celebrations planned out. The April issue of Parade from the Washington Post reports that Lonely Whale, Seattle will be the first US city to participate in the ‘Stop Sucking’ campaign. This campaign advocates for the banning of plastic straw use in all businesses. The campaign was created in hopes of reducing the amount of plastic in our oceans. Coral reefs are negatively impacted from the chemicals in sun screen. The state of Hawaii’s chain hotels and resorts are promoting the use of mineral-based sunscreen that won’t harm the coral in reefs. University of Delaware students designed and are selling reusable bags at many local businesses, in the hope of reducing the amount of plastic polluting our oceans and cleaning up state beaches.

These are just a few state-wide projects that are going on currently. These projects are on a larger scale, but your Earth Day contribution doesn’t have to be. Change needs to start at the bottom. Everyone should do something small on Earth Day, whether that’s picking up a piece of trash you see or raising money for endangered species. Every little thing counts, and those small, seemingly insignificant, actions will add up and have a huge positive affect on our planet. If everyone pitched in and did something for Earth Day, big changes will be seen.