The 1960s were a transformative period of societal awakening in America. It was the era of Civil Rights activism, anti-war demonstrations, and numerous societal liberation actions. It was also the awakening of environmental movements worldwide.

In 1969, an ecologically-minded Harvard graduate student named Denis Hayes met with U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (WI). Senator Nelson at the time was considering a national "teach-in" on the environment. Mr. Hayes so impressed Mr. Nelson that he landed a job with the Senator, and out of that collaboration Earth Day was born on April 22, 1970.

"This week we celebrate the work of Mr. Hayes, Senator Nelson, and the estimated 1/5 of the then total population of 200 million Americans who participated in that first Earth Day," said Acting Public Works Director Matthew W. Garbark. "While most of us continue to shelter in our homes, many Department of Public Works employees are continuing to collect City refuse and recyclables. Others are keeping City clean water flowing to your taps, and purifying the wastewater from drains. So, let’s all continue to honor these employees, particularly, on this Earth Day." 

Normally Earth Week in Baltimore is marked by a Saturday Mayor's Spring Cleanup. These cleanups have been happening annually since the first one in 2000. Citizens are encouraged to continue to carefully and safely clean around their properties, bagging trash, including wipes, masks, and gloves. Social distancing is encouraged as well as the wearing of masks, washing of hands, and the use of gloves, brooms, dust pans, and trash grabbers. Remember to deposit bagged trash in your big green municipal trash can, and our sanitation crews will pick it up and dispose of it properly.  

Did you know that between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020 over 33,000 tons of mixed refuse has been collected in the City as well as over 6,200 tons of recyclables? Much of that was collected during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While we realize that some services are temporarily disrupted, e.g. mechanical street sweeping, drop-off centers, and bulk collections, they will return once we, working together, fully #reducethecurve. Meanwhile, we are continuing to pick up trash, recyclables and empty corner cans.

Fifty years on and Earth Day founder Denis Hayes continues his work as an environmental activist, diligently fighting climate change. He notes that these issues were not on anyone's radar in 1970. Neither was COVID-19, which he believes may be linked to climate change. Only the future holds the answer to this.

Meanwhile, we can continue to do our part to improve the 81 square miles of our part of the earth, and 11 square miles of water, that make up our home called Baltimore. We can make it healthier by following the Governor and the Mayor’s COVID-19 directives. And, we can make it cleaner by properly disposing of trash, and keeping wipes, fats, oils, and grease out of our drains resulting in fewer sewer backups and overflows.