1970/79 The First Earth Day
Solitaire Townsend, Chief Solutionist & Co-Founder of Futerra
Judge's comment
"April 22nd 1970 marked the world’s first Earth Day, which mobilized 20 million Americans (10% of the population) to protect our planet.
American Senator and environmentalist Gaylord Nelson delivered a series of lectures following an already increasing public consciousness around air and water pollution. Nelson was inspired by Vietnam protest tactics but wanted to distinguish Earth Day as an educational, non-partisan, and non-radical occasion in order to capture a broad base of support. With the help of amenable activists and politicians, these were expanded to try to reach all Americans. Posters like these were used to advertise the cause and mark ‘the beginning of the end of pollution’. Today it’s estimated that 1 billion people participate in Earth Day.
I was raised wearing ‘everyday is earth day’ t-shirts. It’s easy to overlook how Earth Day infiltrated our language, culture & media – normalising environmental mindsets."
Public Relations Work
Objectives: Raise awareness about environmental issues, water and air pollution in particular. Bring these issues to the forefront of the political agenda.
Target Audience: The American public constituted the primary audience of the first Earth Day.
Key messages: The Earth is in peril due to human activities and we have a responsibility to protect our planet through collective action and political change.
Strategies and Tactics: To maximise the appeal of the event, organiser Senator Nelson focused on a number of elements. He ensured Earth Day would have a bipartisan appeal by choosing a Republican Congressman to co-chair the event, pushed for the event to centre on dialogue and discussion rather than protest by involving educative institutions, and maximised media publicity thanks to a strong communications strategy.
Provocative slogans such as “the beginning of the end of pollution” were used to generate a media narrative and attract public attention, while offering incentives for participation in the form of buttons, stickers, and public recognition for participants and supporters.
Nelson and his team also brought in high-profile disasters such as the Santa Barbara Oil Spill to strengthen their narrative and the urgency of their message. Central to Earth Day’s communication strategy was the idea that it was a nationwide bottom-up rather than top-down initiative. To achieve this perception, Nelson ensured the structure of the event was decentralised, allowing local communities to tailor Earth Day to their own issues.
Tools and Channels: Nelson’s team sent out press releases and op-eds to newspapers, television stations, and radio stations across the country. They also liaised with local communities to ensure mobilisation through word-of-mouth and locally tailored flyers, posters, and phone calls.
Implementation: An estimated 20 million participants in more than 10,000 events nationwide.
Results: The widespread support of the themes of Earth Day later led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Source:
Earth Day
History.com
Epa.gov