Scrub Hub: Here's a history of Earth Day and ways can participate beyond one day a year

It’s April again, and the Earth under the feet of Hoosiers is waking up from its winter slumber, and with that awakening comes the annual celebration of the planet and its environments.

Earth Day 2022 is Friday, marking the 52nd year environmentally conscientious Earthlings set out to celebrate, advocate and organize. The international non-profit EarthDay.org, formerly Earth Day Network, coordinates events around the globe and sets an annual theme.

This year it is: Invest in our Planet.

The theme is meant to motivate a sustainable path forward for business leaders and urges companies to act on a green economy.

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“When it comes to climate change," the organization’s website says, "money talks.”

This edition of Scrub Hub will explore the history of Earth Day and lay out activities anyone interested in celebrating can do — and not just one day a year.

Short answer: What are the origins of Earth Day?

While Earth Day doesn’t have Hoosier origins, the day of celebration did begin with a politician in nearby Midwestern state Wisconsin.

Sen. Gaylord Nelson first began considering an environmental movement 1969 following the Santa Barbara oil spill when more than three million gallons of oil spilled by the nearby Unocal drilling platform five miles of the California coastline.

The movement began as a series of teach-ins in 1969 inspired by the same style of the anti-war protests of that decade. Nelson, a Democrat, enlisted the help of U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey, a Republican from California. The movement turned into the annual mid-April Earth Day events in 1970, set to coincide with college schedules across the country.

Hoosiers were quick to join the movement.

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Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar declared April 22, 1970, as “a day for contemplation, conversation, and action to halt and reverse the impending crisis of the decay of man’s environment.”

Gov. Edgar Whitcomb, who served the state until 1973, solidified Indiana’s involvement in Earth Day with an executive order.

“I urge all of our citizens to act responsibly to alleviate the pollution menace to the environment,” Whitcomb wrote.

The movement has grown in the state over the decades and spawned Earth Day Indiana, which holds an annual festival at Garfield Park. This year’s event takes place June 4 — the organization moved the event from the official date to take advantage of the warmer weather.

“If we know one thing about Indiana weather, it’s that it’s unpredictable,” the group’s website says. “Our rain-or-shine festival has seen its share of inclement weather in April. By moving to the early June date we can all but ensure a beautiful, balmy day.”

Long answer: What can I do to participate?

If you feel like celebrating Earth Day on its official April 22 date, there are plenty of options. We’re not going to make a list here for fear of leaving out some really good events, and not having enough room to include them all, but a quick search on the internet for “Earth Day events Indiana” will provide a plethora of choices.

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Instead, here are some individual actions you can take:

Plogging: Yes, it’s probably a buzzword, but the act of picking up garbage while out jogging (we suppose someone can also do this while walking) started to pick up pace in Sweden around 2016 before spreading to other countries. It’s straight forward: bring a bag with you while you’re out getting exercise and pick up any trash you come across and then properly dispose of it.

Reusables: Whether you fancy a coffee or tea, it’s easy enough to hand your barista a refillable to-go cup and start eliminating waste. There’s no need to fill up garbage bins with plastic water bottles either. This idea also translates at the grocery stores. Begin collecting reusable bags

Second-hand shopping: Why buy new when you can reuse? The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 11,300 tons of textiles, the majority of which were clothes, were landfilled in 2018. Buying second-hand clothes also helps reduce the amount of water and chemicals used as the clothes get a second life. This concept also applies to buying vehicles, electronics and other household items.

In your backyard: For readers with yards, filling garden beds with native plants or creating rain gardens can have beneficial effects for the local environment. This spring you can plant Columbine, wild geranium or Virginia bluebells in shady spots and blue phlox, fire pink and blue flag it is in sunnier areas. These help promote biodiversity by providing natural habitat for native wildlife.

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Organize a cleanup: Like plogging, but with friends, family and neighbors (and less physical activity). Start a group chat with others interested in heading out one day and cleaning an area of garbage strewn about. Make sure to pick a safe location and wear protective clothes while out picking up trash. It’s also important to leave hazardous materials alone. Indianapolis has an action center for reporting any litter that’s potentially dangerous for you to pick up: 317-327-4622.

Online billing: A relatively simple way to cut paper use is by signing up for paperless billing. Quite a few companies also offer a slight discount if you choose to pay your bills online and make it easy with a phone app or website portal.

Get outside: Plenty of research points to how spending time in nature is good for the mind and body. Just last year a study in the International Journal of Wellbeing said: "... nature connectedness and engaging with nature through simple activities (e.g., smelling flowers) consistently emerged as being the significant and prominent factors in predicting and explaining variance in mental health and wellbeing."

Just talk: It’s easy to overlook the simple things sometimes, and just having a friendly conversation with someone about ways to benefit the environment can go a long way.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Earth Day: How to celebrate, Earth Day 2022 events Indiana