Philadelphians first celebrated Earth Week in 1970, but there's still work to do, advocates say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Monday marks 54 years since the first Earth Day celebrations on April 22, 1970, and while many cities observed the event, Philadelphia took it a step further by hosting the world's first Earth Week.
The week culminated in a large concert on April 22, 1970, at Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.
Steve Cottrell, who's president of the Delaware Audubon Society, attended the concert.
"There was a lot of energy in the crowd," Cottrell said. "This was a party with a purpose."
There was anger at how factories back then were polluting Philadelphia's air and poisoning the Delaware River.
Bill Reinersmann, who was 17 years old at the time, was also in the crowd.
"As a matter of fact, I still have my little magazine here," Reinersmann said. "It's actually the only day I ever skipped school."
He remembered how in the 1970s, he could literally see the pollution in the sky, especially when he was flying from Europe to America.
"As we came up to the coast of Newfoundland in Canada, you could actually see the sky darken," Reinersmann said. "We're all looking, and it's like, 'Oh, that's the pollution.'"
Earth Week pushed for a brighter future, which, both Cottrell and Reinersmann said, in some ways, it succeeded in doing.
It became the roots of the Environmental Protection Agency and legislation like the Endangered Species Act.
It also planted the seeds for Cottrell to become an environmental advocate.
But as he walked Fairmount Park on a March day, he said some things have gotten worse.
"Fifty-four years ago, when I was here, it was fairly pristine," Cottrell said.
Now, trash covers swaths of the park, though Cottrell said there's a more urgent problem threatening the health of Fairmount Park.
"Trash is easily managed. You just pick it up," Cottrell said. "Invasive plants aren't."
He said non-native plants rob birds of sources for food and can prevent mature trees from regenerating.
He said the response to ongoing environmental issues like invasive species, hotter temperatures and rising seas needs to be just as large as it was 54 years ago.
"You can't just neglect things and expect them to get better on their own because they won't," Cottrell said. "You have to get involved."
