Environmentalism

Almost a thousand years before the modern environmental movement, William the Conqueror established the system of "Forest Law", which operated outside of the Common Law in effort to protect game animals and their forest habitat from destruction.

By Danilo Prudêncio Silva.My Flickr.

An early example of concern for environmental protection occurred in England when King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a problem. The fuel was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from some shores by the wheelbarrow.

The Sierra Club was founded by a group of individuals led by the conservationist and lawyer, John Muir, in San Francisco, California, on May 28, 1892. 

The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and largest environmental organizations in the United States. Its mission is to protect and preserve the natural world, promote responsible outdoor recreation, and advocate for environmental conservation and sustainability. The club has been involved in various initiatives and campaigns related to wilderness protection, clean energy, climate change, and environmental education.

In 1893 a national body was set up in the UK to coordinate environmental conservation efforts across the country; the "National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty" was formally incorporated on January 12, 1895.

Plastic and petroleum were originally environmental saviours, because they eliminated the need to kill elephants, turtles, whales and many other creatures for their materials.

Many people associate the beginning of the environmental movement with the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, which spelled out the dangers of the pesticide DDT. The book awakened many to the potential environmental and health hazards of using powerful chemicals in agriculture.

Earth Day was first observed in San Francisco and other cities on March 21, 1970, the first day of Spring. It was created to give awareness to environmental issues. The first widespread Earth Day Celebration took place a month later on April 22, 1970.

Tommy James' 1970 single “Draggin' the Line”  helped create a new phrase. James explained  to Songfacts.com: "The line of 'hugging a tree' in there became kind of a slang expression for people who are interested in the ecology. 'Tree Hugger' came from that song."

The first green party in Europe was the Popular Movement for the Environment, founded in 1972 in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel.

U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law on December 28, 1973. It was a wide-ranging environmental law designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation." The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In 1979, James Lovelock, a British scientist, published Gaia: A new look at life on Earth, which put forth the Gaia Hypothesis; it proposes that life on Earth can be understood as a single organism. This became an important part of the Deep Green ideology.

Julia "Butterfly" Hill lived in a 180-foot (55 m)-tall, roughly 1500-year-old California redwood tree for 738 days between December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999.  Hill originally ascended 180 feet (55 m) up the tree, affectionately known as Luna, to stave off Pacific Lumber Company loggers who were clear-cutting. She lived on two 6-by-6-foot (1.8 by 1.8 m) platforms for 738 days until a resolution was reached with the logging company.

Julia Butterfly Hill By Carl-John Veraja - Wikipedia Commons

World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. First held in 1974, it is celebrated on June 5 to raise awareness, support action, and drive changes for the environment.

An acre of corn is as beneficial to the environment as an acre of forest trees. Both have large leaf areas that absorb lots of carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the entire summer period.

NASA has a Planetary Protection Officer whose job is to prevent us from contaminating other planets.

Despite being made of 95% air, Styrofoam can take a million years or more to break down and currently makes up about 30% of the landfill volume in the US.

Here is a list of songs about the environment

Sources Wikipedia, About.com