“Roses are red, violets are blue, for Earth Day this year, let’s all plant a few.”
That’s the message accompanying today’s Google Doodle in celebration of Earth Day. The doodle is a time lapse photo of flowers blooming in the shape and color of the Google logo. It’s quite a sight and one of the prettiest doodles yet. I highly recommend check it out.
Like many national holidays, Earth Day found its origins in the U.S. John McConnell, a peace activist, proposed the first Earth Day at the national UNESCO conference in San Francisco. This led to an Earth Day Proclamation by the city of San Francisco on March 21, 1970 and soon McConnell created guidelines for a global Earth Day Proclamation.
The next month in the same year, Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson proposed a similar holiday that he called an “environmental teach-in.” This also became an Earth Day and before we knew it, 1970 saw two Earth Days that took place only one month apart from each other.
The only difference between the two days was that McConnell’s was designed for a global audience where as Nelson’s day was designed for just the U.S. That all changed through the efforts of Denis Hayes, National Coordinator of the original April 22 Earth Day, who brought Nelson’s Earth Day to a global audience in 1990. All of this eventually led the United Nations to designate April 22 as International Mother Earth Day in 2009. The holiday is to be observed at least through 2015.
As for Google’s efforts to help with Earth Day, the company has set up an Earth Day that provides tips on how to help. Google Maps is offering directions to community gardens, Google Offers is selling a mix of Wildflower seeds for only $5, and Google+ is displaying the best gardeners on the network.
While they are providing gardening tips to users like you and me, they are also taking part in the festivities. They are partnering with Friends of the Urban Forest to plant trees in the yards of San Francisco schools.
With all these promotions and tips for making the Earth a better place, it’s no wonder Google scored the highest on Greenpeace’s score card this year.
Are you going to do anything for Earth Day? Perhaps start a garden or be extra aware of your recycling habits? Let us know in the comments.
