April 22 is Earth Day. Incredible as it seems, I had the privilege of participating in the world’s first Earth Day in 1970 when I was a student in Junior High School. Believe it or not, I still have the student-published school newspaper from that event. You can see the main photo above.

According to the school paper, on Earth Day in 1970, we participated in discussions, films, awards, and a campus-wide clean up. Students created posters about: pollution, famine, war and the population explosion.

I found so many things interesting about this personal time capsule. Each one is worthy of a blog all its own. But this Earth Day, I will simply list these points to ponder:

• The first unfathomable fact (for me) is that 1970 was 55 years ago.
• The second is that I was not only alive, but fully capable of participating in Earth Day 55 years ago.
• The 1970’s mention of the “population explosion” is interesting, in that population growth is almost never mentioned now days in relation to the environment (though of course it does have an impact).
• China’s “one-child policy” was not instituted until almost 10 years later: starting in 1979 and in effect until 2015. It no doubt contributed to current reluctance to discuss population control.
• And despite China’s efforts, the world population has grown from 3.6 billion in 1970 to a shocking 8.2 billion in 2025!
• War is also seldom discussed as an ecological problem, though it disrupts almost every aspect of plant and animal life. It causes pollution, leaving landmines, destruction and long-term contamination behind. It depletes natural resources and contributes to climate change.
• In 2025, we seldom discuss famine in relation to Earth Day, though of course famine is very much still with us. And it is likely to become more prevalent in the future due to crop failures from climate change.
• On the other hand, the most pressing nutritional problem worldwide in 2025 is obesity, not famine.
• Interestingly, in the 1970 US, most people were of ideal weight. The “obesity epidemic” did not take off until about 1978. The reasons for this are still not well understood (see my blog on obesity).
• One factor may be the increase in meat consumption. Worldwide, it has has almost doubled from 27 kg per person per year in 1970 to 44 kg in 2022. (And remember, that is kg of meat per person. The number of people worldwide has also more than doubled!) That’s a lot of animals, animal feed, and greenhouse gasses! All that meat does not seem to be making us any healthier either.
• And while the hippies of the 60’s and 70’s advocated a vegetarian diet; it has been only the last 20 years or so that a plant-based diet has been identified as environmentally-friendly.
• Incredibly, one big topic NOT on the agenda in 1970 was climate change. Scientists were aware of global warming in the 70’s, but the term was not part of public discussion until well into the 80’s and later. Yet it was still loud and clear in 1970 that the earth needed our attention and care.
• The theme of Earth Day 2025 is sustainable energy. Solar is now the cheapest source of electricity! We should be using it everywhere! And in case you are wondering, solar panels had been invented in 1970, but did not become widely available until the 80’s and 90’s.

Looking back to 1970, it is easy to see that lots of things have changed, but many of the same problems (plus some new ones!) remain. In 2025, the conversation is very focused on climate change and carbon emissions. But it is important to remember that pollution, famine (and over consumption), war, and population growth impact our environment as well.

There is much be done and solutions DO exist. Let’s get to work! In the words of one of the student reporters from 1970: “Why can’t every day be an Earth Day?”