Happy Earth Day! Earth Day has its origins in 1969 when Senator Gaylord Nelson announced a plan for a teach-in at college campuses about the air and water pollution, and got Pete McCloskey, a Republican, to be his co-chair. Nelson then enlisted a young activist, Denis Hayes, to help develop teach-ins across college campuses. They chose April 22nd, 1970 to help maximize college students’ participation. For the event, Hayes built a staff of over 85 people, changed the name to Earth Day, and transformed the teach-in idea into an event that would reach a broader audience. Over 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day, since then Earth Day has become an annual event and expanded its reach. To learn more, check out the Earth Day History page.
Our Power, Our Planet
For 2026 the theme is Our Power, Our Planet, which is focused on daily actions of individuals to make the world a cleaner place. Environmental change can be impacted by individuals and local organizations working on projects and initiatives in tangent with larger organizations and administrations. Check out the Earth Day Take Action page to see all the different activities you can do to help our climate.
Documentaries
The library offers a variety of documentaries that feature environmental topics. Here are some that the library has access to related to Earth Day and the environment:
Director Robert Stone (“Oswald’s Ghost,” “Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst”) traces the origins of the modern environmental movement through the eyes of nine Americans who propelled the movement from its beginnings in the 1950s to its moment of triumph in 1970 with the original Earth Day and to its status as a major political force in America. Kanopy
A PBS documentary that captures the early environmentalist movement. It frames the participants’ lives around events that were happening through the 1950s and 1960s and how these events and individuals shaped environmentalism.
The first documentary feature film of its kind to cover the solutions and technologies being worked on in the world today to combat and eventually solve the plastic crisis that our world is facing. -Kanopy
This documentary follows Janice Overbeck who is a mother concerned about plastic waste. Overbeck, through interviews with experts, looks into developing technologies to handle the plastic problem.
Ken Burns: The National Parks America’s Best Idea
This 12-hour, six-part documentary series by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan tells the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.
From Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska, the series explores the stories of people, from every conceivable background, who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so, reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy. -Kanopy
Ken Burn’s The National Parks America’s Best Idea looks at the different national parks and at the individuals who helped bring this about and shaped them over the years.
Rachel Carson: The Woman Who Launched the Modern Environmental Movement
When Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F. Kennedy to launch the first-ever investigation into the public health effects of pesticides — an investigation that would eventually result in new laws governing the regulation of these deadly agents.
Featuring the voice of Mary-Louise Parker as the influential writer and scientist, Rachel Carson is an intimate portrait of the woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world. Drawn from Carson’s own writings, letters and recent scholarship, this film illuminates both the public and private life of the woman who launched the modern environmental movement and revolutionized how we understand our relationship with the natural world. -Kanopy
Want a movie more focused on an individual? Check out this Rachel Carson documentary. It provides a portrait of her life, and how her work, particularly Silent Spring, shaped the early environmental movement and shed li
ght on how some “green energy” can actually harm the environment.
“PLANET OF THE HUMANS” dares to say what no one will—that we are losing the battle to stop ecological meltdown by following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road—selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. In the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids: too little, too late. This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late. -Kanopy
Planet of the Humans looks at where the environmental movement has gone in recent years. It offers a less optimistic picture of green energy that is being developed and questions if these advances will be enough.
Getting involved and learning about Earth Day is a great way to learn more about how to help improve the environment. If you want help finding environmental sources, check out the Earth Day website, the resources below, or reach out to your liaison librarian.
Ben Cushing is a Research and Instruction Librarian at The Catholic University of America Libraries.
References
EARTHDAY.ORG. (n.d.). Earth Day: The Official Site. https://www.earthday.org/
Earth Day Resources