Earth day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. Earth Day was created in the year 1970 and was made to encourage action to protect the Earth’s natural resources. Earth Day is a time for people, communities, and groups to come together and address the environmental issues that we face, such as climate change and pollution. Normally, on Earth Day people like to do some type of activity. Activities might include tree planting or helping clean up roads. Activities like this can help us understand how important it is to help make our Earth better. Over the years, Earth Day has grown into a holiday that is celebrated all over the world.
Earth Day was first started on the 22nd of April 1970 and first started off as environmental consciousness during the 1960’s which was influenced by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, because the book spread awareness about how dangerous pollution is and the dangers that it could bring to the earth. U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson started Earth Day in the hope of it becoming a worldwide movement about protecting our Earth and our environment.
This holiday is a very significant day and may have special memories for different people. Valeria Nunez said, “Growing up we never really celebrated Earth Day as it’s not really a custom to my culture, but when I first heard of it, it seemed very intriguing because I had never heard of it before being here.”
“Earth Day has a very significant meaning to me because I remember back in elementary school my teachers always used to make us help clean the playground and we used to color coloring pages which had some kind of relation to Earth Day,” said Mackensi Hernandez.
Earth Day is the perfect day to take part in some Earth Day-themed activities. Most people, when celebrating Earth Day, like to go outside and camp for the day without electricity or anything that uses harmful chemicals that can be released into the atmosphere. Some examples are batteries, factory smoke, and harmful chemicals.
Another way to celebrate Earth Day is by hosting or participating in a community clean-up event. A community clean-up event is when people who volunteer get together to pick up trash and litter in their community. “ I have never been to or done a community clean-up before, but it sounds like a very interesting thing to do for Earth Day,” said freshman Joselyn Sanchez. “I would do a community clean-up if I ever got the chance of doing one, I think it would be fun,” said Valeria.
Our school’s environmental club works hard to help our community. We asked one of the founders of the OHS Environmental Club, Ms. Heather Grant, a few questions about Earth Day and what it means to them. “To me, Earth Day is about reconnecting with nature and remembering why it’s worth protecting. I love the peace and happiness that being outside brings — whether it’s hiking, swimming, or just sitting under a tree. That joy makes me feel passionate about taking care of the planet. I think environmental stewardship is so important because nature gives us so much, and it’s up to us to make sure future generations get to experience that same beauty and wonder,” said Ms. Grant.
Ms.Grant was also asked, “Do you think that schools should start teaching about the environment and how we should take care of our earth during health classes or science classes?” She responded with “Yes, I definitely think schools should start teaching more about the environment and how to take care of the Earth, whether it’s during health classes, science classes, or even as a topic of its own. I feel it’s very important to educate young people early about the world around them and the role they play in protecting it. Environmental issues are complex and connected to many parts of our lives, from health to economics to technology, so they deserve thorough study. Here at Osbourn, I highly recommend that students consider taking the AP Environmental Science course. It’s a great way to deepen your knowledge, understand real-world environmental challenges, and learn practical solutions. By getting educated, students can become strong advocates and leaders for a healthier planet.”
Now that you know the problems that our earth faces daily, what are some of your ideas to help out our community and environment? Tell us in the comments!
Ian Knox • May 22, 2025 at 2:28 pm
I’m glad Earth Day is a thing, but it’s often a forgotten, uncared for holiday. Best way to combat environmental decline is to really motivate people to recycle, cut down on deadly corporate emissions, and use safer alternatives to many things we use today, like plastics and non-degradable. That starts with the government.
Bri • May 20, 2025 at 10:29 am
I think we should clean up our earth by recycling instead of throwing a lot of recyclable material into the trash. Also, biking or walking instead of driving can help not release carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc.
eli • May 14, 2025 at 9:28 am
I think to help out the community we can like pick up trash we find and stuff
Engel Diaz Diaz • May 8, 2025 at 2:46 pm
my ideas are stop poaching by making it a life sentence, make a maximum amount of how much you can hunt a animal per year and if you pass it you get fined with an expensive charge, only allow the necessary amount of vegetation to be removed and make a limit to how many trees can be cut and trees must be replanted, stop the use of plastics and gas and replace them better alternatives slowly.
Keyli Recinos Chavarria • May 5, 2025 at 1:53 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated earth day.
Jackson Doll • May 2, 2025 at 2:20 pm
I’ve never really done anything to celebrate Earth day, but I appreciate that it’s a thing. Protecting the environment is really important and I think Earth day brings attention to that.
Larry Lizalde • May 2, 2025 at 2:18 pm
I feel like Earth is slowly dying but at the very least I probably won’t be alive to see it happen. If I ever felt like helping Earth though I’d probably go on a walk and try to find and pick up all the trash I can.
Fatima Melgar • May 2, 2025 at 10:20 am
I like to take part on Earth day I usually pick up trash or recycle I also used to go to beaches when I was young and pick up trash there. I think that buildings,shops,schools and houses should have recycling bins also compost bins it would improve the Earth’s health.
Josh Guzman • May 2, 2025 at 10:13 am
I do plan on joining the sustainability club one day! Just like one of your sources, I didn’t directly clean a playground, but I did help recycle things and help to recycle bins during elementary school as a volunteer. This was not on earth day, but people shouldn’t wait for that day just to take care of the earth. If you have time, I want you to take care of the earth, no matter how small the change is!
elise • May 1, 2025 at 2:43 pm
I think every high school should have an environmental, recycling, or sustainability club where volunteer pick up trash in their local area in return for something. I think that would be an amazing way on keeping populated areas like schools, clean.