Written by Gaurika Mathur – a grade 10 student

Earth day is celebrated on the 22nd of April every year . It is a day to remember to take care of our planet, earth by keeping it clean. But, is it just a one days’ work to remember our planet while forgetting it on others? Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Origins of Earth Day

The founder of Earth Day is Gaylord Nelson. He came up with the idea of a national day to focus on the environment. Nelson announced this idea as the “National tech-in on the environment” to the country. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organised protests against the deterioration of the environment.

Every day should be Earth Day

By celebrating Earth Day, you’re part of a community of over 1 billion people who take part in this holiday every year.Earth Day is about raising awareness about the importance of protecting our planet and taking action.But is it just one day to remember our duties towards the planet.We live on earth, the only planet known to carry life. We breathe its air, drink from its waters, live off its produce, build on its soil, dig up its treasures and exploit it to our advantage.And on that one day out of 356, April 22, we sing the Earth’s praise, lament about its sufferings, pledge to care for it and then get back to living just as carelessly and selfishly as we have always been.

When people stop noticing and caring about things, special days are set aside in the year — for instance Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Women’s Day, Labour Day, etc. — to raise awareness of issues and problems related to each theme, and motivate people to become proactive about these relationships and issues.But isn’t it wrong commemorating such important aspects of our lives on a single day of the year when we should remember them each and every day?

Our planet is home to more than six billion human beings and countless animals and plants. All its bounties and resources are shared and used by every living creature, but why is it abused by humans only ,even the tribal respect and protect the environment.We people living in the cities don’t care about anything but themselves. Not many people realise, and very few accept, is that when we do anything that harms any part of our planet, we are harming ourselves.

This year we prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

Want to write for I Kid You Not? We publish children’s writing.Reach out at: ikidyounott@yahoo.com