The Origin Story of Earth Day

Ever wondered why we have Earth Day? Learn why the United States commemorates the Earth with a special day.

It all started with a pivotal event in 1969. 

On January 28, 1969, an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara dumped approximately three million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The spill spread over 35 miles, thousands of birds died, and the beaches were covered in oil.

January 28, 1969 oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast. L.A. Times, May 20, 2015

Local citizens organized within days to advocate for an end to oil drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel. Newly elected President Nixon, who had a home overlooking the affected area, visited, as did Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin senator with a growing interest in environmental issues. All saw the disaster first hand.

Nelson had a bright idea.

Thinking about what he had witnessed, Nelson thought about the Vietnam teach-ins to protest the war: "It suddenly dawned on me,” he later recalled, 'why not a nationwide teach-in on the environment?' The idea of Earth Day took root.” (Smithsonian Magazine, April 22, 2019)

Nelson founded the non-profit Environmental Teach-In, Inc. and found a co-chair in Pete McCloskey who represented San Mateo County, California, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Denis Hayes, a 25-year old graduate student, was recruited to help organize the first Earth Day event, April 22, 1970, across the U.S. (and in future years, worldwide). 

A rally in New York. NewYork Public Library, April 20, 2017.

According to Earth Day’s website, approximately 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth day, or put another way, 10% of the total U.S. population!

Other key events that happened in 1970: The Environmental Protection Agency was established and the National Environmental Education Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act were passed. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972.

Earth Day 2025 

As we mark the 55th Earth Day, it is more important than ever that we look at how we can be good stewards of the environment in our community, the region, and beyond. 

Join Greener Grove as we celebrate Earth Day and all that is happening right here, right now to make Downers Grove a more sustainable community.

Find out more about Greener Grove's Earth Week Events here!

Sustainability Plan Adopted by DG Village Council

written by Steve Ruffolo, Ken Lerner, Michelle Weed

April 8, 2025 Village of Downers Grove Council Meeting

The Downers Grove Village Council has unanimously approved the draft Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP), concluding a two-year effort that began with adopting the Greenest Region Compact, hiring a Sustainability Coordinator, and reviving the Environmental Concerns Commission (ECC).

After more than a year of public meetings, stakeholder interviews, surveys, open houses, workshops and other activities, the Village’s first Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP) was formally adopted at the April 8th, 2025 Village Council meeting.  This effort by Council, Village Staff, their consultant GZA, the Environmental Concerns Commission with the public support and input from Greener Grove, the Pierce Downer Heritage Alliance, the Downers Grove Organic Gardeners and others, generated a document that will guide our community forward along a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly path. 

As was stated many times by Council members during the meeting, the adoption of this plan represents a realignment and cultural shift for the Village, its operations and the community as a whole.  Along with the ESP, the Streetscape Plan and Active Transportation Plan were also adopted by the Village Council at the meeting. (One more plan, the Mobility Plan, has yet to be adopted.) Viewed in total, these plans put the Village on a more systematic, organized footing to ensure we achieve our goals as we consider future actions and policies. Their integration into Village operations along with the Comprehensive Plan, to be completed in the next month or so, provides a vision of a more friendly, welcoming, environmentally-aware and engaged community, where residents and businesses can live, grow and thrive for years to come. 

Thank you Village Council, staff, and everyone who has given their time and effort to reach this point!  Greener Grove looks forward to continuing to help DG create a greener, more environmentally-friendly future for all.

Quotes from the Council Regarding the ESP

“I spent the weekend going through this plan cover to cover, and just, wow. In the end, I absolutely love the inclusion of student artwork throughout this document. It’s really great, sets the right tone, sends the right message, and it’s all the way through so you can’t forget about it. It’s always there as a reminder of why we do what we do. Fantastic document. I’m just proud to have been part of it.” 

– Mike Davenport, Commissioner

“I’m honestly thrilled with this document and happy to pass it as is. I cannot thank staff and Greener Grove and the ECC enough for the amount of work that has gone into this. I really think that we are lucky to have such an engaged group of residents and community that it was very clear every time we would get a draft for this that there were a lot of people who were very engaged and involved in this from start to finish. As someone who has been hoping for this and pushing for this since I was elected in 2019, to one, see this come to fruition, and two, be this detailed, nuanced and high quality, is very exciting.”

–Leslie Sadowski-Fugitt, Commissioner

“Fantastic work. What I like about this plan is that it provides a community-wide call to action, not just a government checklist. I appreciate the community pledge that invites residents and businesses and organizations to take part in this effort. I think it sets realistic and achievable and measurable goals. As someone who values accountability, I’m glad to see detailed objectives for the village and metrics to track our progress. I think it supports smart growth and reinforces fiscal responsibility with some of the long term cost savings that we will see with things like retro-fitting, smart water use, green infrastructure – all of those things will save tax-payer money. It highlights us as a regional leader, and reflects on us as a long-range, thoughtful village. [The Environmental Sustainability Plan is] data informed, community developed, expertly guided, and demonstrates the value of having a resource on staff. Overall, outstanding work and I look forward to supporting this.”

–Chris Gilmartin, Commissioner

“The village has always had a mindfulness for environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and looking at things differently, but it was kind of like working out in a home basement. We kind of knew what we were doing and might have had some second-hand equipment we bought online and we were kind of doing the best we could. But then, we actually got a trainer (Jason Michnick, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator) who told us there’s a path forward for how to actually do this. We partnered with people who actually have programs that allowed us to better celebrate our accomplishments, strive for something better, to have metrics and measurements to actually show that we are achieving results we can be proud of. And partnering with the grassroots organizations, Greener Grove, and Pierce Downers Heritage Alliance – thank you for all your years of contribution, and people from the community who are coming together to support this, took us from working out in our basement to becoming professional athletes at the olympic level [in sustainability].” 

–Martin Tully, Commissioner

“Kudos to staff, consultants, and everybody who’s gotten plugged in on putting this together. The amount of community feedback we’ve gotten through the ECC, Greener Grove and other organizations has been tremendous. I love that this plan is significantly broader and deeper than what I had in my head at the beginning of this process. We’re not just looking at one thing like being carbon neutral. We have something for every little bit of what goes into the definition of environmental sustainability and I think that’s fantastic. And the way we’re trying to engage the community and push folks along on their journey while we’re embarked on ours is inspiring as well.”

–Greg Hosé, Commissioner

“I think this plan appropriately helps set and build and underscore and give room for the building of a culture, as opposed to a box check thing. There’s an awful lot of environmental sustainability plans that are adopted by people and companies all across the country that are largely box checks, and they’re kind of B.S. And this is not that. This is a cultural refocus. This sets goals that are stretches, but not impossible. I also like the fact that in its very structure, it recognizes this plan will be an evolving thing. I think that’s important too, because the worst thing we could do is take this plan, put it on the shelf, check a few boxes, and in 10 years not be doing anything with it. This sets up for the cultural [refocus] but also the idea that this document itself will evolve over time so it’s not just sitting on a shelf, and we should all be really proud of that.”

–Bob Barnett, Mayor

March Meeting Recap: Get Bike-Ready

written by Yvonne Malone

With temps forecast to hit 70 degrees for the last week of March, Greener Grove (GG) timed its meeting, “Get Bike-Ready,” perfectly!

GG member, Ryan Coughlin, along with Ari Andonopoulos and Andrew Almazan of RTT Cycle Shop in downtown Downers Grove, shared bike maintenance tips, highlighted some of their favorite products for keeping safe and protecting your bike, and answered lots of questions from attendees.

Protecting You and Your Bike

Throughout the presentation Ryan, Ari and Andrew stressed the importance of investing in lights - lights that help the cyclist to see and lights that help the cyclist to be seen. This means adding lights to the front of your bike that point down and straight ahead, as well as lights on the back of your bike under the seat and to backpacks. 

Other safety tips/gear mentioned included:

• Wear a reflective vest and a neon bike helmet cover to increase your visibility.

• Add a flag(s) and more lights to bike trailers, whether carrying groceries, kids, or dogs.  

• Invest in a foldable bike lock made of steel - these locks are hard to cut through so help prevent your bike from being stolen when it is parked in a public space.  

Bike Maintenance

Depending on how many miles you ride each year, bike tires typically last a maximum of 5 years. Even if you’re not riding that much, materials simply break down over time given the temperature fluctuations here in the Midwest. Helmets also have a life span of 3 to 5 years because the materials used to protect your head, like styrofoam, dry out. 

Regular annual maintenance can help prolong the life of your bike for years. Taking your bike in for a spring tune up will help keep your bike in good working condition - and identify worn parts that need to be replaced, ideally, before they interfere with the function of your bike.

Several essential tools to take with you on bike rides include:

• Mini-bike pump (or a CO2 tire inflator if you’re unable to attach a mini-bike pump to your bike frame or if storage space is a limited)  

• Bike multi-tool

• Bike tube (ideally two bike tubes, though one is sufficient for shorter rides)

• Tire lever 

Having these tools with you on a ride will allow you to, hopefully, repair a flat until you can get home or to a bike repair shop.

Check Out Local Bike Routes

Reviewing route options when planning a bike trip can help you avoid busy roads, take advantage of bike paths and sidewalks, and introduce you to new areas. So, whether you are mapping out a bike route to work, a local forest preserve or some other destination, there are several resources to tap into, including:

• Downers Grove Bicycle Club -  https://www.downersgrovebicycleclub.org/home

• DuPage County Forest Preserve District - https://www.dupageforest.org

• Ride Illinois: https://rideillinois.org

• Google Maps - click on the bike icon

• Local bike shops like RTT Cycle Shop - https://www.rttcycleshop.com/

Take Action  

• Start with using your bike more rather than automatically getting in your car to run errands or visit a local park. A couple of  interesting facts the presenters shared:

  • The Transportation sector is responsible for 71% of all U.S. petroleum use.

  • Increasing the mode share of all trips by bike and walking from 12% to 15% could be equivalent to replacing 19 million conventional cars with hybrids per year.

Source: People for Bikes, Environmental Statistics: Bicycling and the Environment.

• Attend the April 8th Village Council Meeting. As part of the comprehensive planning initiative underway, Guiding DG, both the Sustainability and Mobility Plans (which includes biking) will be presented at this meeting. The agenda will be posted by 5pm on Friday, April 4th.

  • As highlighted on the Guiding DG website, the Mobility Plan “serves as a vision and blueprint for building a more bikeable and walkable Downers Grove. The Guiding DG Mobility plan will result in transforming Downers Grove into a ‘pedestrian first’ community.” 

• Advocate for continued improvements. Once the Mobility Plan is finalized, continue to attend local meetings and reach out to local officials to support cycling initiatives. We can do this as individuals and through organizations like GG. GG, for example, has formed alliances with other entities in the Downers Grove community to promote common goals, leverage ideas and advocate for change. 

• Promote a cycling culture. Commit to riding your bike more, participate in local cycling events or clubs, and take advantage of local bike paths to explore the area where we live.  

A side note: While the meeting was all about getting bike-ready now that spring is here, for those who prefer to walk, it is also the start of a new season - one without ice and snow to navigate. Like biking, walking invites you to take in your environment from a different perspective and avoid defaulting to the car for each errand. On the “Take Action” steps above, replace “cycling” with “walking”.