On Earth Day today, let's go the distance for the environment

Earth Day is a global event each year, with more than one billion people in 192 countries believed to take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Photo: Noah Buscher/Unsplash

In the decades since the first Earth Day teach-in in 1970, the annual observation of environmentalism has become a worldwide day of political and civic action, with participants taking part in cleanups, tree planting events and marches.

"Earth Day is now a global event each year, and we believe that more than one billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world," Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers said in a recent statement.