Press Release
Mayor Gavin Buckley
Public Information Office
160 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Mitchelle Stephenson, 410-972-7724 or mwstephenson@annapolis.gov
Annapolis Celebrates a Virtual
Earth Day 50th Anniversary
Annapolis, MD (April 17, 2020) – Throughout the month of April, the City of Annapolis has been celebrating Earth Month with daily pledges that residents can take to help improve the planet. These virtual pledges and ideas for simple, stay-at-home earth-friendly practices are things that Annapolitans can incorporate into daily life. These daily pledges include a pledge on April 22, 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Residents can take the pledge HERE.
The pledge for April 22 to “Create a Bird-Friendly Yard” coincides with Annapolis’ celebration of Migratory Bird Day. In mid-February, Annapolis received its Bird City Maryland award. Annapolis was the first city in the state of Maryland to achieve “High Flyer” status from the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership.
“We have been overwhelmed by coverage about Coronavirus,” said Mayor Gavin Buckley. “We wanted to continue with our Earth Month and move to an on-line celebration of Earth Day because nothing is more important to the future of our City and future generations than reversing the effects of climate change. I am taking these pledges with my family, and I hope you will too.”
The pledges have been broken into four categories:
Water (ex: clean up after your pet, conserve water in the garden)
Air (ex: walk, bike or use transit, switch to LED bulbs)
Habitat (ex: grow oysters, use natural cleaning products, create a pollinator garden)
Earth (ex: opt for paperless billing, plant a tree, create a meal plan to reduce food waste)
Earth Day was founded in 1970 by (former U.S. Sen.) Gaylord Nelson who came up with the idea to spotlight a day for the nation to focus on the environment. Inspired by the anti-war movement, Senator Nelson, of Wisconsin, wanted to raise the public consciousness about air and water pollution after witnessing a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969. Nelson wanted to elevate the issue of the environment to the national stage. He recognized the strength of a bi-partisan endeavor and recruited Pete McClosky, a Republican Congressman, to serve as co-chair. They selected April 22 to be Earth Day because it fell between Spring Break and final exams, which they thought would be a good time to mobilize college and university students.
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