Earth Day was created to increase awareness of the Earth’s natural environment, and it led to the modern environmental movement. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and was the brainchild of then senator Gaylord Nelson. He called for an environmental teach-in, and over 20 million people in the U.S. participated: http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement. The event capitalized on the energy of the anti-war protest movement, combined with the growing public consciousness of the need to protect the planet. It led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Today Earth Day is celebrated in over 180 countries around the world.
To find books in the library on Earth Day type Earth Day as a subject heading into the Classic Catalog. If you type Earth Day into the search box of the Encore Catalog you’ll get slightly different results. To find books on conserving the natural environment, try some of the following subjects/terms in either library catalog: Environmental Protection, Environmentalism, Recycling Waste, Energy Conservation, Green Movement, Climatic Changes, Sustainable Living, and Global Warming.
For more information on sustainable living go to the Marin County Free Library website, and click on Research & Learning in the blue bar toward the top of the page. In the box entitled Resources by Subject, click on the subject Sustainable Living in the right-hand column.