EARTH DAY!

Happy Earthday!!

Every day is Earth Day in our household, but today is EARTH DAY!

What is Earth Day you ask?

“The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons, and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.”  

Learn more about Earth Day here 

Now you’re wondering what on Earth does Earth Day have to do with a Food Blog?

Great question! Glad you asked!

Well, the obvious would be to grow your fruits and veggies, but there are many other ways we can think about our food footprints.

How about these black pepper stir-fried noodles by Pinch of Yum- Who need’s plastic and styrofoam when you can make your own takeout at home.

Or these loaded sweet potato skins by Sally’s Baking Addiction-No need to throw out those potato skins when you can use them to make these beauties!

How about we leave the brown bags at home and ditch the fast-food wrappers for grilled eggplant for lunch from last night’s dinner. That’s how you upgrade lunch!

Give your oven a break with these 15 quick and easy crockpot recipes. By Damn Delicious.

Need a break from meat? Try this scrumptious black bean taco pizza

Or these delicious Greek Vanilla Yogurt bark.

So you see, these are just a few ways you can participate in saving our planet.

Check out Allrecipes for more Earth Day recipes.

Saving the planet never tasted so delicious!

Tonya

XoXo