Earth Day and Climate Week: SF, NYC, and Beyond
What is Earth Day?
Earth Day is a celebration of the planet - keeping it healthy, creating more sustainable habits, and avoiding destructive behaviors like littering, polluting the environment, and over-reliance on fossil fuels.
The origins of this day can be traced back to the backlash that followed the 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill. At the time, this disaster was the worst oil spill that had ever occurred in the United States. In just a matter of days, the spill coated miles of California coastline in crude oil — killing over 3,500 sea birds and thousands of pounds of marine life, from fish, to dolphins to seals. This incident wasn’t just an environmental disaster; it was a wake-up call.
A budding environmental movement was already underway throughout the 1960’s, but the 1969 oil spill catalyzed that movement even further and brought environmental issues to the spotlight in a way that hadn’t been done before.
Through a mixture of political and academic collaboration, the first Earth Day was organized on April 22nd, 1970 as a “teach in” - a day where students, educators, and the public would come together to learn about the most pressing environmental concerns of the time. Some of these topics included air pollution, water pollution, and the potential outcomes these pollutants had on ecosystems and human health. The social and political backing of this movement led to President Richard Nixon eventually establishing the EPA - the Environmental Protection Agency - in 1972.
Today, Earth Day is often regarded as a day to reflect, recognize, and respect the planet not just as an abstract object, but as a home that we should care for. Local communities often organize mass trash pickups, group gardening and tree planting, educational workshops, or partaking in zero-waste/sustainability challenges (like trying to limit the use of single-use plastics).
In the United States, Earth Day typically overlaps with another, more recent climate movement - climate week.
What is Climate week?
In the U.S., two of the largest ‘climate weeks’ take place in San Francisco and New York. These events are meant to educate, innovate, and foster collaboration.
In San Francisco, the event is more decentralized, and focused on new climate-related tech innovations and grassroots organizing. Nonprofit organizations (like Replate!) will typically either host or attend speaking events that cover relevant topics in the climate and tech space - like the use of AI, sustainability initiatives, or software related to food systems.
In New York, climate week has a bit more of a formal history; it was started in 2009 by The Climate Group - a climate advocacy nonprofit that partnered with the United Nations, City of New York, and other international organizations in order to put the event together. NYC’s climate week is more focused on global action, policy initiatives, and an overall more political approach to climate change.
In addition to NYC and SF, key regional Climate Weeks take place worldwide, each addressing local climate priorities. These include Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, and MENA — all backed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These events focus on issues like resilience, clean energy, water access, and climate finance, giving a voice to regions most impacted by climate change.
In short, both climate week and Earth Day are days of reflection. It’s a time of the year where thought leaders, organizations, and people from around the world come together to discuss potential (or ongoing) initiatives to combat the harmful effects of climate change.
By setting aside time to specifically discuss these issues and advance ongoing climate conversations, the environmental movement has gained significant momentum in recent decades. For example, in California specifically, many climate-related laws have been passed, including CA SB350 - the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act (2015) and California SB1383 – Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (2016).
By continuing to keep the spotlight on these issues, movements like Climate Week and Earth Day can hopefully play a role in inspiring more far-reaching and impactful policy changes.
To learn more about Replate, click here!
To learn more about climate week in San Francisco, click here.