'Invest in Our Planet' Earth Day themes change, but opportunities abound for individuals to make a difference

This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

Oil slicks, smog and pesticides were heavy on the nation's mind when Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson spearheaded the movement that led to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Fifty-three years later, such environmental hazards still demand attention, but they've also become folded into an even more existential risk for future generations on our planet - climate change.

Unfortunately, the subject became highly poiticized during the previous decade, but the Pew Research Center still finds that Americans, along with people from industrialized nations around the world, recognize the problems it is causing, its connections to human activities and the need to address it. In the U.S., 69% of respondents to recent Pew surveys say they want the nation to be carbon neutral by 2050, and fully three-quarters of Americans want the nation to join with others around the globe to pursue that goal.

There is not, however, similar consensus on how to reach those goals. Even so, there is little doubt that much can be done, and perhaps one of the most salient messages as we enter Earth Day 2023 Saturday is that it can be done locally and by us all.

Today's Daily Herald Neighbor sections list a host of activities planned throughout the suburbs, some likely near you, designed to let individuals and families play a direct role in protecting the planet. Whether it's joining a recycling "Party for the Planet" at Brookfield Zoo, attending a park district Earth Day Fair, gathering with like-minded neighbors to plant trees at a local forest preserve or any of scores of similar actions, you can contribute along with more than a billion people around the world to efforts to bolster Earth's health and maintain a safe environment for your children and grandchildren.

Participating in such activities can be uniquely rewarding, but it's important to note that we don't have to limit ourselves to formal actions on a single day. Earth Day's official web site earthday.org lists dozens of ways to, as this year's theme beckons, "invest in our planet," whether it be reducing plastics consumptions, striving to purchase sustainable clothing or simply voting with the climate in mind.

"Don't underestimate your power," the site declares. "When your voice and actions are united with millions of others around the world, we can create an inclusive and impactful movement that is impossible to ignore."

The dominant themes of environmental stewardship may seem somewhat different than those that launched the first Earth Day in 1970, but the risks that underlie them have changed little, and the deep and longterm hazards they portend still demand our constant attention.

Be aware of them this Earth Day, and, if you can, join with the scores of your nearby neighbors and millions of people around the globe who are doing some little part to make a big difference in our communities and our world.