Earth Day 2013 Celebrated Today
Monday has arrived with the annual celebration of Earth Day, and people everywhere are honoring our planet.
Each year on April 22, individuals focus on lifestyle choices that effect the environment. Earth Day commemorates practicing "green" energy use such as recycling, and the holiday promotes sustainability and preservation of the earth.
The celebration was first globally coordinated over 40 years ago by the Earth Day Network and sees worldwide support for environmental protection.
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"Earth Day is designed to [activate] individuals and organizations to strengthen the collective fight against men's exploitive relationship with the planet," said Denis Hayes, a national coordinator for Earth Day, during a past interview with The Guardian.
"Beyond any doubt, today the basic core values are vastly more 'green,' if you will, than they were in the 60s and 70s," Hayes added.
Over one billion people in 192 countries are observing Earth Day 2013 on Monday, according to EarthDay.org.
Activities on the holiday include education about environmental issues such as global warming and clean energy, and in many schools, children will participate in field trips and games focused on our ecosystem.
Google is also honoring Earth Day with the Google Doodle featuring a sunny scene of a river today.
Furthermore, Happy Earth Day and #EarthDay became a trending topics on Twitter on Monday as thousands of users sounded off about their celebrations.
"Happy Earth Day Everyone," wrote Cassandria. "How will you be celebrating today? We will be planting.. it's family tradition."
Kansas Department of Agriculture posted, "Happy Earth Day! Today's farmers produce 262% more food with 2% fewer inputs than in 1950. How do you care for the earth?"
"Let's go second hand shopping," advised Life Embarked on Earth Day.
"Happy Earth Day everyone," added Rob. "Small things matter too. Why not pick up a piece of litter and leave things better than how you find them today?"
In order to learn about your own ecological footprint, head to EarthDay.org to take this quiz and see your impact on the planet.
