Earth Day celebrated with special Google doodle

This question originally appeared on Quora: What should everyone know about Earth Day? Answer by Karthikeya Acharya

Living on this planet is a pretty good thing. You get to see the sunrise, sunset, cooling winds, wonderful rainfall, beaches etc.

The earth has given us so many things to cherish about. We should at least know why it is celebrated today and who was responsible for the modern world safe environment Earth Day celebration.

Earth Day takes place every year on April 22. It's a holiday intended to promote respect for and the conservation of our planet, its atmosphere and all of its living creatures. Yes, that means you, human, but that also includes bats, cacti, and plankton, just to name a few.

Ok, sounds important enough. But like, everyone knows that you can't just go around tossing garbage out of your car window and you shouldn't leave the lights on when you're not in the room. Everyone's gotten the memo by now that the only way humans will be able to continue to live on Earth is if they're kind to the environment, right?

Here are some of the things we need to know about Earth Day.

1. What is Earth Day?

Earth Day is a day meant to be celebrated as a reminder of our existence in this planet. It's an awareness creation attempt intended for us to love, respect and save the environment.

2. Why was it created?

Before the 1960s, being environmentally conscious basically didn't exist. That was until Rachel Carson published her best-selling book Silent Spring in 1962, which brought attention to the dangers of using pesticides and gave impetus to the environmental movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. However, it was a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969 that put the creation of Earth Day in motion in an effort to raise political and public awareness of the need for environmental conservation.

3. Who started it?

Earth Day was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin after learning about the devastating effects of that Santa Barbara oil spill, according to Earth Day Network's website. He was inspired by the anti-Vietnam War "teach-ins" taking place on college campuses at the time and the grassroots nature of the movement to try and hoist environmental protection onto the national agenda. Nelson convinced Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey to serve as his co-chair and appointed Denis Hayes, a young activist, as national coordinator.

4.What was the first Earth Day like?

Thanks to a lot of publicity from the media, the first Earth Day was a big hit. About 20 million Americans took to the streets, college campuses and parks in support of the very first Earth Day. Rallies were held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC and most other American cities, according to History.com, Famed anthropologist and environmentalist Margaret Mead spoke at the first Earth Day, in addition to actors Paul Newman and Ali McGraw and singer Pete Seeger lending their support.

5.What can you do to celebrate Earth Day?

Plant a small tree around your house or in your colony. Talk with friends about climate change and pollution. Stop using plastic.
Spread the news about the requirement of trees for our survival. Trees provide fresh air, a shelter for birds and butterflies and many insects. Life on earth is not all about human existence. We should live in harmony with nature and there must be a proper balance.

You see the news about climate change, floods, landslides, tsunamis all the time. It's because we forgot to love and respect our environment.

My suggestion to the Indians who eat mangoes and other fruits this summer:

This is the season of fruits like mango, java plum, jackfruit etc. My request to all of us is kindly don't throw the seeds, wash them and keep it in a plastic pouch in ur car. Whenever you go out and find barren land while travelling, on a highway throws these seeds. They will germinate easily the coming monsoon. If with this act we can contribute even a single tree each to our world, our mission is successful. This is not just a random idea. It was initiated decades ago in districts like Satara and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra State in India. Many other districts have appealed to people to spread abundance in nature this way and many citizens have joined this wonderful mission.

Also, the need for the environment protection was started way back by a woman in India's Karnataka State known as Saalumarada Thimmakka.