‘Are you aware our present-day ‘green revolution’ is a relatively new phenomenon?’ It was in 1942 that Jerome Rodale published his Organic Farming and Gardening, renamed Organic Gardening. In 1949, Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac espoused ethical land usage and in 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, emphasizing the effect of pesticides on wildlife.
As a result, focus shift toward organic gardening: mass-produced organic grown farm produce, nontoxic methods for pest control, recycling in the form of composting, and regional natural garden designs. Recognizing the effect, gardeners not only respect an existing vista but began to preserve and enhance it; in other words, North American gardeners adopt the concept of being a caretaker of space, an ecological gardener.
Nevertheless, the average American still slurp leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. And, air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. More often, the environment was a word that appeared in spelling bees rather than on the evening news. Then, on April 22, 1970 an event occurred that ignited our present-day 21st. Century Green Revolution. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment” and force this issue onto the national agenda.
More than 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly became well-known.
On Wednesday the 22nd of 2009, what are you doing to mark this celebrated event, Earth Day? While you could choose to participate in publicly organized events, there is another option, create your own. Won’t you join me in an effort to inspire the opening of individual backyard garden gates? Together, let's celebrate the living green in our own backyard!












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