Earth Day Festival Celebrates 2nd Year in South Straub Park

It has a long tradition, stretching back to 1970, but there may be more than a few people who aren't even really aware of Earth Day. I have to admit that it was one that had kind of passed me by, but it giving some recognition to the importance of the Earth is something that is a lot more at the forefront of people's minds.

It was first celebrated in 1970 after a proposal put forward in 1969 by a peace activist called John McConnell, who wanted to honor Earth with a day of peace. The date of April 22nd derives from a second Earth Day started by US Senator Gaylord Nelson, a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award. the whole thing went worldwide in 1990, when Denis Hayes, the original coordinator organized events in 141 nations.

St Petersburg Is A Forward Thinking City

On April 18th St Pete celebrates the day in South Straub Park - the second time that it has done so. It is sponsored by Duke Energy and the St Petersburg Downtown Partnership. It is pretty cool, because the whole idea is to educate people about eco-friendly technology and different ways that you can build healthy sustainable communities.

If you walk around St Pete the evidence that the city is very supportive of forward thinking initiatives is obvious - there are the charging stations for electric cars for one thing, and recycling points as well. It's the first city in the state to be awarded for Green Building Coalition's Green City designation. When a city takes an interest in conservation, recycling, water conservation, and various other initiatives that seek to improve the life of its citizens then that is definitely something to celebrate. St Pete is a very art-oriented community anyway, so you know that there is a certain kind of attitude that the people who live there imbue the place with, and the whole ethos of the festival seems very much in line with that way of thinking and living. It is very forward thinking of the city planners, and pretty inspirational.