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Shikha Patel

On Wednesday, April 22, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the annual celebration of the environmental movement took place. Each year, Earth Day focuses on a new theme; this year’s theme is Climate Action, which promotes an increase in anti-pollution and environmental protection policies.

Dispatch Celebration of the 50 Earth Day!

Cade Spencer, Faith Lawrence, Shikha Patel, and Shruti Patel

April 22, 2020


On Wednesday, April 22 marks the 50th celebration of Earth Day. Each year, Earth Day focuses on a new theme; this year’s theme is Climate Action, a concept created in order to bring awareness to the harmful effects of pollution in our world and to celebrate Earth’s beautiful environment. 

With COVID-19 physical distancing policies in place, Earth Day must be celebrated at home, so virtual events such as environmental lectures and films will be taking place and available online. Visit earthday.org to see a list of events taking place today. 

“Earth Day is a celebration of all of the beautiful, complicated, and intricate ecological services Earth provides and the huge diversity of life it supports,” Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher Ashley Spiro said. “It has its roots in the late 60s and early 70s environmental activism, when the general population was gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between the environment and human health.”

According to americaslibrary.gov, the first official Earth Day was founded in 1970 by then Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson who believed that the environment did not receive enough coverage in politics and media.

“I think it is important we celebrate earth day because it is a reminder that we need to protect our planet,” sophomore Olivia Vienneau said. “My favorite part of nature is the beach because I love the presence of being near the ocean.” 

As activism for environmental protection and anti-pollution policies increases in the American political culture, Earth Day has become an extremely popular event, with #earthday2020 on Instagram tagged on a total of 339,322 posts.

“It is important to celebrate earth day because it is so easy to not appreciate or just forget about how beautiful nature is because we spend most of our lives surrounded by man-made things,” senior Jacy Lim said. “My favorite part of nature might have to be the sunsets because no matter where you are, [a sunset is] there, and most of the time it is so pretty.”

In order to see how the Bowie community celebrated the 50th annual Earth Day, view the gallery attached to this story to read about some of our students’ favorite memories out in nature. 

“We face many challenging modern environmental issues, ranging from the millions of tons of plastic pollution in our oceans to the looming threat of catastrophic man-made climate change,” Spiro said. “These problems will require innovative solutions and collaboration. Earth Day encourages these discussions and promotes hope for a better future.”

 

 

“This photo was taken at Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The picture is of the Bridal Veil falls in the valley of the park,” senior Delaney Anthony said. “I really love this picture because I think it really shows how grand this part of the park is. It just shows how awesome and beautiful nature can be when protected/taken care of and given a chance to grow and flourish.”
Photo courtesy of Delaney Anthony.
“I love going to Hula Hut with my friend, Ali Wayman (pictured left), to enjoy the view of Lake Austin,” sophomore Olivia Vienneau said. Photo courtesy of Olivia Vienneau. 
“In the first picture (top left) I am in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. In the second picture (top right) I am in Estes Park, Colorado. In the third picture (bottom left) I am in Penang, Malaysia. In the fourth picture (bottom right) I am in Ipoh, Malaysia.” senior Jacy Lim said.
Photos courtesy of Jacy Lim
“This is me jumping from the catamaran that we stayed in for two weeks right by an island called Saba,” Haynes said. Photo courtesy of Makenna Haynes.

 

 

“My family and I visited a local family-friendly bar owned by Jensen Ackles from the show Supernatural,” junior Brenna Martin said. “It was a really gorgeous place, a very open space with a really kind staff, they also have food trucks and games like Cornhole.”
Photo courtesy of Brenna Martin.
Photo by: Faith Lawrence
Juniors Kaitlyn Muras (left) and Faith Lawrence (right) snorkel in Hanauma Bay on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. “Hanauma Bay was absolutely gorgeous and beautiful and I am very lucky to have experienced it,” Lawrence said. “I love the ocean and everything about it, so seeing lots of fish and different types of marine life was so amazing. This was definitely my favorite part about our vacation to Hawaii.”
“My family and I hiked up Grandfather mountain in North Carolina,” junior Kaitlyn Muras said. “While in North Carolina my family and I did a lot of hiking and the view from Grandfather mountain was incredible.”
Photo courtesy of Kaitlyn Muras.
“My friends and I decided to take a weekend trip to the 360 bridge in Austin for the first time.“ junior Annalisa Gonzales said. “It was a really fun and beautiful experience to see the different view.”
Photo courtesy of Annalisa Gonzales.
“This picture was taken on a local beach in the Grand Cayman Islands last summer,” sophomore Zeta Jenkins said. “I love this picture because we were the only ones on the beach at the time, but it really felt like we were the only ones on the entire planet. Just hearing the waves crash and watching the sun go down was so freeing and reminded us of how beautiful the natural world is.”
Photo courtesy of Zeta Jenkins.
“It’s a clearing off of I-45 that I pass by when I bike,” junior Jayden Wu said. “I saw that there were a ton of wild flowers this year so I stopped for some pictures. It’s a great area that is also near the Grey Rock Golf Course.”
Photo courtesy of Jayden Wu.
“I took this picture in Monaco,” Haynes said. “My friend and I took a speed boat from Cannes to Monaco. I loved being on the mountains and the water at the same time.” Photo courtesy of Makenna Haynes.

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