Earth Day Beginnings

• Posted on 22 April 2016
• By Dr. Jill Tack
• Posted in earth day, earth friendly, gaylord nelson
• 0

Earth Day is a global holiday held every year on April 22 that's designed to bring about environmental awareness, and this year marks the 46th year of celebration. Its original aim was to create a mass environmental movement to inspire, change and challenge ideas, ignite earthly passions, and motivate people to clean up our planet.

Earth Day is a global holiday held every year on April 22 that's designed to bring about environmental awareness, and this year marks the 46th year of celebration. Its original aim was to creating a mass environmental movement to inspire, change and challenge ideas, ignite earthly passions, and motivate people to clean up our planet.

Beginnings

In the early 1960s, there wasn't the same awareness about the effects pollution was having on the environment as there is today. There were few activists devoted to issues such an industrial pollution—factories didn't have the legal boundaries they do now and pollutants were being pumped into the air with minor regulations. People weren't as aware of recycling and reusing as a way to help conserve our resources and our planet, and gas guzzling cars were quite popular.  

But certain events helped increase American's awareness and concern about the effects pollution was having on the environment. One of the initial wake up calls came by the way of a fire on Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River in 1969. Sometimes seen as a significant turning point, it made many think about chemical waste disposal hazards. 

The actual idea for Earth Day came from founder Gaylord Nelson, the U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. After witnessing the damage a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California caused in 1969, he became determined to convince the federal government that the planet was at risk. Nelson was also inspired by the anti-war sit-ins happening on college campuses around the United States, and realized that if he could get the same force of energy with the public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would "shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda.”

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans 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 organized protests against the deterioration of the environment, helping bring to light the common concern and motivation we feel to monitor how we affect our environment.

Honoring the Earth

To honor the Earth is simply to be more aware of what we use on a daily basis, and being conscious of what we waste and throw away. A good way to increase our awareness is by getting into the habit of reusing and recycling. Some communities have recycling bins that you set at your curbside weekly along with your trash. Others have facilities where you can drop off cardboard, metals, plastics and other recyclable products. If you feel compelled, you can join many different groups to learn about ways to clean up your community at local parks, watersheds, and roadsides. As a pet owner, I find myself picking up trash on my walks with my dogs to make a difference in my own neighborhood.

The Pet Beastro and Earth-Friendly Products

We ask all our manufacturers and vendors some pretty serious questions about their products and their company. We want to know all the cool details in order to pass the info along to you, our customer.  The following are just a few companies we love and the steps they're taking to impact our planet in a positive way:

• Honest Kitchen - This company is all about sourcing! The source and use poultry that is cage-free, beef that is free-range, and fish that is line caught. Additionally, they use cardboard boxes as their main packaging so they can be recycled or reused.
• Answers Raw Pet Food - This company uses milk cartons for their bulk products. As a company standard, they avoid using plastic as to not contribute to the ever-growing waste on the planet. They believe that paper is easier to recycle plastic, which takes thousands of years to break down.
• Earth Rated PoopBags - These biodegradable, earth-friendly, poo pick up bags are made from recycled materials and the compostable white bags are one hundred percent plastic free. It’s never a fun job, but every responsible pet owner does it. In celebration of Earth Day, we will be handing out FREE rolls all day Friday, April 22 with each customer purchase.
• Earthborn - This company has programs like UPC’s for trees, which practices eco-friendly packaging, and provides tons of information on how to help the environment. For every 12 UPC’s you return to the company, they will plant a tree. In addition, for the entire month of April, anyone who purchases their product at The Pet Beastro will be entered to win a Japanese Cherry Blossom tree.
• Planet Dog’s Orbee Tuff  - This company offers many options, including their Earthball, which is completely recyclable. They also focus on using non-toxic materials so it can’t harm your dog.
• West Paw Design - When any of their rubber toys are returned, they will wash, rinse and reuse. The toys are re-melted to make new toys so nothing goes to waste! Recently they were recognized as a B Corp Certified company, which is a major accomplishment. This means that they work in an environmentally-conscious office building, offer their toy recycling program to consumers, rely on eco-friendly materials, and much more.
• Herbal Supplements - Many of the herbal companies that we support also have earth-friendly steps in place. If the herbs are wild-crafted, they make sure that they are sustainably harvesting the herbs to make sure there is enough remaining for the next growing season. Many of the vendors have a great relationship with the herb growers and suppliers as well, keeping up with their quality control to offer us superb products.
• Ruff Roots - These eco-friendly and eco-sustainable sourced wood chews come from the Mediterranean Heathlands. Every Ruff Root is hand-harvested and sourced from Spain. The tuber of the root is harvested in order to keep the shrubs and trees viable and healthy. Great for heavy chewers!

Stop by The Pet Beastro on Friday, April 22 to learn more about, and purchase our earth-friendly products.