Earth Week: Find out how to get a FREE TREE in Deerfield Beach

You must be a resident of Deerfield Beach to get your free tree.

Here’s a brief history of Earth Day according to Wikipedia:

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference held in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a special day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, which marked the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day for celebrating nature was later declared in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental day of learning to be first held on April 22, 1970. Nelson later  was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award as recognition of his work. The April 22 Earth Day was originally focused on the United State.   An organization launched by Denis Hayes, the original national coordinator in 1970, helped take the festivities worldwide in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.^[7][8]

Many communities celebrate Earth Week, which is an entire week of events focused on environmental issues that the country and the world faces. In 2017, the March for Science occurred on Earth Day (April 22, 2017) and was followed by the People’s Climate Mobilization (April 29, 2017).

Deerfield Beach celebrates Earth Month with events throughout April.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration.

This story was prepared by our Deerfield Beach news desk with additional  information from various public sources and their websites.

For more Deerfield Beach news and events information you can go to our website and read our publication, Deerfield Beach Magazine.