Dozens of people this morning gathered at Back Cove with contractor bags to collect trash in the coastal wind and celebrate Earth Day. Earth Day celebrates its 54th year of commemorating the planet's 4.5 billion-year existence. The holiday celebrating the planet started in 1970 to raise awareness about environmental degradation. This year's theme for the holiday is "Planet vs. Plastic," a heavyweight bout that plastic appears to be dominating. To celebrate the event, lets look at five fun facts about the holiday:

Earth Day was Created by a Senator
The holiday was invented by a Democratic Senator from Wisconsin who shared his name with an out-of-time schoolyard insult, Gaylord Nelson. Nelson became increasingly concerned after a massive oil spill in 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. He enlisted a young activist, Denis Hayes, to help bring the idea to the public.

Many Groups Were Independently Involved in Environmental Causes and Became United by The Holiday
During the 1960s, a string of environmental disasters had spawned several groups taking up arms on behalf of the earth and the environment. However, they did not recognize that the impact of their causes was intertwoven. Denis Hayes shared, "There were numerous groups in the U.S. working on different environmental issues—to reduce air pollution, bring attention to the impact of pesticides on farm workers, and more—but they had never worked in conjunction." Earth Day was able to unite these groups like some sort of unwashed Avengers.

Earth Day is for the Kids
Denis and Gaylord felt strongly that if this holiday was going to have legs, they would need to involve the youth. They chose the date April 22nd to fit into college schedules between breaks and exams. This date would afford college professors a free day to offer their students the opportunity to get outside and get involved.

Earth Day 2024 Will Have the Biggest Clean-up in Event History
In Malaysia this year, earthday.org is working to host over 100,000 people on Penang Island, which has been drastically impacted by plastic pollution largely due to tourism.

Plant a Tree and Be Somebody
Attending clean-ups is not the only way to get involved in Earth Day. Since 2010, earthday.org has started the Canopy Project that has planted tens of millions of trees in an attempt to combat the 18 million acres of forest lost every year to deforestation and to provide future Earth Day-celebrating generations with trees to hug.

Happy Earth Day to all. We stand for what we stand on, Earth First! (I will still use plastic for deodorant, as every "natural company" seems to have created a product that increases perspiration and stink).