The idea for an
annual Earth
Day was originally championed by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in
1970, an outgrowth of one of the "teach-ins" of that era.
Environmental depredations had reached a critical mass in the public
consciousness. The pesticide DDT -- not banned in the
United States until 1972 -- was decimating bird populations, gritty smog
blanketed and begrimed New York City, and some polluted waterways actually
caught fire. But the Earth Day movement made decade-by-decade
progress , until it became the global movement it is today.
You can find out
more information
about Earth Day on several web sites, including Earth Day New York and Envirolink. Among other things, you
can learn how to Count
Down Your Carbon.
As Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum urges all New Yorkers reduce, reuse and recycle to make the City even greener.



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