A Billion Acts of Green – Earth Day

Green Act Earth Day Henna Arts

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Today is the 41st year of environmentalism and activism for Earth Day. It is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment.

A little bit of history:henna-arts-earth-day-1

In 1970 when there was height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, came the last Beatles album and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” Protest was the order, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.  Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962.
Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

henna-arts-earth-day-2The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
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At Henna Arts we are proud to provide body adornment which is completely natural and safe.
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As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 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.

From then till now –  Earth Day is now observed on April 22 each year by more than 500 million people andhenna-arts-earth-day-3 several national governments in 175 countries.
This year, Earth Day’s theme is themed after A Billion Acts of Green: our people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before Rio +20.

Other elements of the 2011 Earth Day campaign include:
– The Canopy Project: Help fight deforestation, we will plant a tree for every $1 you donate
– Green Schools: Greening America’s Schools within a generation
– Women and Green Economy (WAGE)™: Engaging women leaders in the creation and development of a global green economy
– Athletes for the Earth: Bringing the voices of Olympic and professional athletes to the environmental movement
– Creating Climate Wealth: Convening 200 of the world’s entrepreneurs to solve climate change and create a new green economy
– Arts for the Earth: Celebrating the work of environmental artists in all media.

Please visit earthday.org for more details.

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