Earth Day '99 and beyond

Throughout the world, Earth Day is recognized as the symbol of environmental responsibility and stewardship. First launched in the United States in 1970 and celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest environmental event worldwide. Today, we celebrate, along with its founders, Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, the 29th anniversary of the birth of the environmental movement. These events have inspired the U.S. Congress to pass clean air and water acts, and to establish the Environmental Protection Agency to research and monitor environmental issues and enforce environmental laws.

You'll find several Earth Day sites on the Internet, many which have the same information, including the history of Earth Day and events calendars. However, there are a few that have unique topics. The Wilderness Society, which sponsors Earth Day '99, http://earthday.wilderness.org/ addresses wilderness and wildlife preservation, as well as protecting America's forests, parks, rivers and deserts. It also includes a "Teacher's Lounge" where they've put together tools to teach about the land and conservation year-round.

The motto of earthday.org http://www.earthday.org/ is "Make EVERY Day Earth Day!" It contains many Earth Day events and activities, eco-educational resources for teachers and more than 700 Web pages of environmental information. If you want to exchange information and ideas within the environmental community, Earth Day '99 Online http://earthday.envirolink.org/ has the EnviroLink Forum. Featured forums include religion and animals, forest issues and book reviews.

Earth Day Canada http://www.earthday.ca/ addresses how Canadians are participating in Earth Day activities. In Canada, Earth Day has grown into Earth Week and even Earth Month to accommodate the profusion of events and projects. This site has programs and resources that can help you organize a successful event or project in your organization or community. It features event ideas, projects and activities, and assistance and tools to help you achieve your environmental goals throughout the year.

It's not too soon to start thinking about Earth Day 2000! This will be the largest environmental event in history and the Earth Day Network http://www.earthday.net/ can help you participate. Earth Day Network, the international organization coordinating Earth Day 2000 events worldwide, is launching the 'New Energy for a New Era' campaign during Earth Week 1999 (April 18-24). The Earth Day 2000 campaign will be a year of education, outreach and activism around energy production and use, and its impacts on human health, air, water, land use and wildlife.

To find out more about environmental issues, try the Amazing Environmental Organization Web Directory http://www.webdirectory.com/. This search engine is dedicated to helping others keep in touch and informed on the Internet. With thousands of sites, it is the largest exclusively environmental organization directory on the Web and includes sites from more than 100 countries.

For assistance in connecting to the World Wide Web, contact the CIT Help Desk at 645-3542.