Pearl Celebrates Earth Day

Happy Earth Day dear reader! For any environmentalist and general lover of nature, Earth Day is a celebration of our beautiful planet and a reminder to continue the work to protect that same beautiful planet for the present and future.

Before Pearl celebrates this glorious day, she wanted to learn what lead to the creation of Earth Day.

As Pearl is sure you know if you are reading this blog, Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd. The first being held in 1970. Now, in 2026, Earth Day is celebrated by about one billion people across 193 countries. The official global theme for this year is "Our Power, Our Planet," which emphasizes a shift toward renewable energy and individual agency in climate action. According to earthday.org, there are currently 9,000+ registered Earth Day events. Find one near you or create your own!

Let's go back to 1970 and see what led to the first Earth Day. American marine biologist, writer, conservationist, and environmentalist Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring exposed the dangers of pesticides like DDT, launching the modern environmental movement. At the same time, there were high profile events highlighting ecological damage. Some of those included the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire in Ohio. The American people were fed up and wanted action from the government. 20 million Americans took to the streets to protest environmental degradation. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson is known as the father of Earth Day. Nelson proposed a nationwide "teach in" on the environment to force ecological issues onto the national political agenda, leading to the first Earth Day. This launched a new wave of environmental activism and the creation of landmark legislation.

By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of other brand new environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act. In 1972, congress passed the Clean Water Act. These environmental laws meant that for the first time in US history, regulations and standards could be set on air pollution, water pollution, a safe work environment, etc. This also meant that the violation of these acts had consequences.

As a watershed organization, the Clean Water Act is of particular interest to us. This act is the primary US federal law governing water pollution, aiming to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. It makes it illegal to

discharge pollutants from point sources into navigable waters without a permit. In Vermont, we have our own clean water act know as The Vermont Clean Water Act (Act 64). Passed in 2015, this is a comprehensive 20 year initiative designed to restore, protect, and maintain water quality, specifically focusing on reducing phosphorus levels in Lake Champlain. It mandates stricter regulations on agriculture, municipal roads, and stormwater runoff to meet federal EPA standards.

At Missisquoi River Basin Association, we work to maintain and restore the ecological integrity of the Missisquoi River system. This is done through tree plantings, educational programming, environmental monitoring, river cleanups, and much more. Consider spending Earth Day with the MRBA by planting trees with us. The trees we plant together in Troy will grow and as natural, protective buffers that filters out water pollutants, stabilizes the river bank to prevent erosion, and provide crucial habitat and shade for aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.

Pearl will be out there digging holes, potentially swimming in the river, and gathering material for future blog posts. Plus, you'd earn yourself a pearl sticker and get to spend time with the one and only!

Visit https://www.mrbavt.com/volunteer to learn more.

If you are unable to spend Earth Day tree planting but would still like to support the MRBA, visit https://www.mrbavt.com/donate.

Pearl thanks you for your commitment to the environment and clean water!