20
million Americans mobilized on April 22, 1970; 30 years later, that
number was up to 200 million citizens of the Earth. What was the cause
that brought these people together? The desire to make the Earth a
better place.
Earth Day is not a holiday, but an
annual event dedicated to demonstrating support for environmental
action. Consider the math: in many Western countries, each person
generates 4.3lb (1.95kg) of waste every day, up from 2.7 (1.2kg) in
1960. There are now 7.3 billion people in the world; with the current
population growth rate of 1.1%, this means that in roughly 64 years, the
Earth's population will be almost 15 billion.