Earth Day 2005 was a great success!
Earth Day Network sponsored and hosted events around the globe.

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April 22, 2005 was the 35th Anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day, which began in 1970, is now celebrated by millions of people worldwide. This year is its 35th anniversary, and around the world, hundreds of thousands of nongovernmental organizations, governments, teachers, and faith-based groups, among others, are making plans to declare that they are part of something extraordinary: a worldwide movement to protect our planet, our children, and our future.

This year, Earth Day Network’s theme is "Protect Our Children and Our Future." Despite the extraordinary and often false obstacles that we face in our efforts to protect our natural resources and our biodiversity, few will dare argue with the moral imperative to protect our children from harm. As a consequence of that imperative, we call on governments, corporations, faith-based organizations, and all people in our troubled world to work with us to ensure that children everywhere are healthy, educated, and free from oppression.

This Earth Day, hundreds of major events will take place around the world, in communities large and small, in classrooms, in parks and on beaches, in places of worship. From Kiev to Beijing, from India to Romania, from Africa to the Americas, we will demonstrate our diversity and our resilience. We look forward to your participation and working with you to make this Earth Day the beginning of a global effort to protect our children’s future.

Earth Day 2005
Earth Day Network and Our Partners Honor 35th Anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day 2005 and our theme “Protect our children and our future” has inspired a wide variety of events sponsored by Earth Day Network and our partners around the globe. These events, which include rallies, forums, meetings and marches, will draw worldwide attention to pressing issues such as poverty, environmental degradation, chronic diseases and ailments among children – such as asthma – along with other environmental health issues such as polluted air in inner city neighborhoods and the lack of clean drinking water.

Notable Earth Day events include the first environmental rally in Kiev, Ukraine, where leaders of the new democratic government will address more than 250,000 citizens, and a series of events throughout the U.S. focused on air and water pollution in inner city communities.  Earth Day Network is also working to expand civic action in China and South America (Venezuela) and is leading a conference on water sustainability in Israel that is bringing together historically opposed ethnic groups to work together on regional water issues.  Following are brief descriptions of some important events hosted by Earth Day Network around the world:

Kiev, Ukraine

The environmental rally in Kiev will draw upon the incredible energy of the “Orange Revolution” of this past winter and focus attention on the environmental problems that plague this former Soviet republic.  Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers will travel to Kyiv to address the crowd during the day-long rally and concert in central Kyiv.  The event, organized by Earth Day Network international program director Olivia Ciobataru, working with Ukrainian NGOs, is likely to be one of the most significant global environmental events to take place this year.

East Asia

Earth Day Network chairman Denis Hayes will travel to China and Japan where longtime network partners are planning massive events around the themes of water and children’s health.  In China, we helped our partner, Global Village Beijing, to produce a documentary on Chinese water issues that will be shown on Chinese television and viewed by hundreds of millions of people.

Middle East program coordinator Jonah Schein and our Middle East fellows have planned a groundbreaking conference on water issues that will bring together various groups representing the interests of different ethnic groups for the first time to discuss common goals and ways to work together.

Domestic Events

Here in the United States, we are working with our Campaign for Communities partners and other allied groups to draw attention to urban environmental issues and to encourage voters in off-year mayoral elections to focus on the environmental positions of their candidates.  Noteworthy events include a community festival in Los Angeles, California; a mayoral candidate forum in San Antonio, Texas; and a series of actions and media events in multiple cities throughout the U.S.

In Los Angeles, Earth Day Network, along with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), will host a day-long festival where, among other activities, L.A. mayoral candidates will have an opportunity to present their environmental platforms to a largely Latino audience.  The highlight of the festival will be a two-hour live radio broadcast about the environment to include Earth Day Network, the mayoral candidates in attendance, and representatives from the NAACP National Voter Fund and SVREP.  We will also be speaking about Earth Day, the 35th anniversary and community environmental health issues that affect vulnerable populations in the city, such as air and water pollution.

In San Antonio, Earth Day Network along with SVREP and the NAACP National Voter Fund are hosting a town hall-style forum open to all of the city’s mayoral candidates. The would-be mayors will be asked questions about their positions on the environment with a special emphasis on community environmental health and environmental justice issues. All six candidates are expected to attend along with a sizable local media contingent. 

We are also working with a series of partners at the local level to educate communities about the affects of refineries in their regions – the Refinery Project. We are conducting community outreach activities and press conferences announcing the extensive activities of local organizations on this topic, and are offering training for how to be community activists.  The ultimate goal is to make these petrochemical companies more accountable in what they are discharging into the air and water.

We are also collaborating with ACORN in six cities throughout the U.S. to draw attention to urban environmental issues ranging from lead poisoning to childhood asthma. Cities include El Paso, TX, Columbus, OH, Kansas City, MO, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Atlanta, GA.

We are also supporting activities and events in a number of other cities including Philadelphia, Cleveland, Seattle, Washington DC, Charleston, WV, Akron, OH, and New York.

Of special note, our U.S. team has registered nearly 6000 events to date through our newly revamped Web site, allowing people to find and participate in local Earth Day events throughout the world.

Education and Marketing

Our Education program has launched a new version of the Environmental Jeopardy lesson plan--“What’s in your food, what’s in your body”—with the support of the Organic Trade Association’s “GO Organic for Earth Day” program.  The “Go Organic!” campaign has also put Earth Day Network posters and information in grocery stores across the country and is driving substantial traffic to our recently revamped Web site, www.earthday.net.

Starbucks coffee, a partner with Earth Day Network, is featuring Earth Day Network on its coffee sleeves again this Earth Month, encouraging environmentally responsible actions and urging customers to go to the Earth Day Network Web site to learn more.