This video is an Earth Day message of hope from the Environmental Defense Fund, and it sums up perfectly what Earth Day is about, why it exists, and what we as the human race can and should be doing to help the environment.

Earth Day was created by Gaylord Nelson (not Focker), a Wisconsin Senator. He proposed his ideas for a day commemorating and celebrating the Earth in 1962 but Earth Day didn’t truly take off until 1970. Is it merely a coincidence that this occurred after the Summer of Love when people started taking notice of their surroundings?

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year, although there is also Earth Hour Day in March and another Earth Day celebrated by the UN on the March equinox. Confusing? Yes, so much so that I usually forget all these dates until prompted.

One billion people in over 175 countries are expected to mark Earth Day 2009 in some way or another. I’ll be one of them even if my contribution is merely to do some recycling and turn my PC off for a while to save electricity. Surely every bit helps!