Earth Day – once a year, in those countries that recognize it, we all do our best to be a little greener; from cleaning up litter and riding a bike to work, to sorting recyclables and turning off the lights, we all try and do our part. But why is there an “Earth Day”? Where and when did it start and what do we do here at Busch Systems beyond this single day to try and keep things just that much greener?
Where It All Started
To explore when Earth Day started, we need to take a quick look as to why it started. A key contributor to life as we know it today was that of the industrial revolution; the human advancements in using coal and steam as fuels, the introduction of electricity, the developments of using steel and iron, and the introduction of factories. All of these contributors were important to the development of what we see civilization as today in developed countries and can be linked to further developments such as the auto, air, and communication industries. The downfall of what was occurring, which was unknown at the time, was to how detrimental the released gases were to the atmosphere, the environmental damages resulting from oils and dyes being disposed of in water bodies, or even the corruption of soils resulting in the death of vegetation. With the information learned over time, it was then a matter of spreading awareness and acknowledging the importance of protecting our planet before it’s too late; enter former US Senator Gaylord Nelson.
US Senator Gaylord Nelson
In 1962, Mr. Nelson advised the US government that the planet was at risk; fast forward to the fall of 1969 in Seattle, Mr. Nelson would bring forth the concept of Earth Day and, on April 22nd, 1970, the first Earth Day was held in the form of rallies in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many other major American cities. Since then, the celebrations and recognition of Earth Day has grown and spread across the world to upwards of 174 different countries with over 1 billion individuals involved making it “the largest secular civic event in the world.” To this day, the events continue through recognition on social media, rallies continue to be held, tree planting events, and certain goals/focuses are put in place as a commitment to improve the Earth as a whole for future generations.
Earth Day 2024
This year, the United States and Canada have both put forth their own individual goals in honor of Earth Day. The United States have put forth a “Planet vs Plastics” initiative with the purpose of creating a 60% reduction in plastic production by the year 2040. Plastics pose a health risk to humans and other living creatures alike which can disrupt the balance of the Earth. In addition, the removal of single use plastics and investing in a plastic-free world can help get us there. As for Canada, they are putting forth an “Earth Day is Leg Day” campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to acknowledge the detriment that the burning of fossil fuels has on the planet and are in hopes putting forth the movement of avoiding driving solo during the month of April. The goal is to have more individuals taking public transit, riding a bike, or even walking to their destinations when possible. In some cases, it can become difficult to follow through with either goal especially on a smaller scale; here at Busch Systems, here are a few things we do both for Earth Day and year-round!
Earth Day is Leg Day. Main Visaul for Earth Day 2024 campaign in Canada. Photo Courtesy of earthday.ca.
Busch Systems Initiatives for the Earth
In 2018, Busch Systems introduced our Project Rise initiative, where all purchases made will result in us donating up to $500 to one of five environmental charities that are spread throughout North America at no extra cost to the customer. After every purchase, the customer receives a code and can submit it through our Project RISE page here.
Then, in 2023, Busch Systems began two very important partnerships to us; one partnership was with CarbonGraph, and the other with Plastic Bank. CarbonGraph allows us to map out our carbon footprint of every product we provide to ensure that we not only try to continue to reduce our carbon footprint, but also so that our customers can see where the materials of each of our products come from as well as any additional energy needed.
In addition, we are very proud to have our partnership with Plastic Bank in order to assist with the effort of social recycling. In doing so, we have been able to assist in cleaning up the oceans and, up until the writing of this post, over 121,600,000 kg of plastic has been cleaned up thus far with Busch Systems directly helping to extract 45,455 kg.
Finally, Busch Systems also tries to do our best on the smallest of scales by cleaning up around our offices on Earth Day each year, and our inaugural waterfront cleanup in the summer of 2023; we all band together and clean up litter that has been left by passersby. In the words of our Junior Ambassador, Ryan Hickman, “You don’t have to recycle millions of items to make a change in the world, but when you do a little bit each day and your friends do the same, it adds up!!”
Busch Systems staff ready for a successful Earth Day cleanup around our head office!
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Sources
https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/earth-day
https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2024/
