How Green was Born

As we celebrated Earth Day and the history behind it in April, I found myself thinking of how the concepts of what we're now referring to as the "green movement" came to be. So I looked at the history of "Earth Day" (the whole month of April is now referred to as "Earth Month"). Senator Gaylord Nelson from the lovely state of Wisconsin created the idea of "Earth Day" over a seven-year period starting in 1962.

Gaylord believed that the state of our environment was of the political and he had a vision of persuading President Kennedy to embark on a conservation tour to bring attention to the need to preserve the environment. Mr. Nelson felt so strongly about this issue that he flew to Washington to meet with Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Both the Attorney General and the President were so interested in this idea that it sparked a five-day, multi-state conservation tour by Kennedy, which, although it did not bring immediate conservation action, spawned the idea for Earth Day and a grassroots effort to make it a reality.

The tipping point occurred some six years later, when Senator Nelson, realizing the disappointing Presidential tour results, decided to organize a huge protest over the increasing damage to the natural environment. His idea for such a protest originated after he witnessed several anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins". In 1969 at a conference in Seattle, Senator Nelson announced a spring demonstration centered specifically on the environment, inviting all to participate. The story was picked up by the wire services and spread like wildfire, with individuals and communities deluging the Senator’s office with inquiries about participating.

Several months before our first Earth Day, another critical piece of the puzzle fell into place in the form of a substantial article that ran in the New York Times:.: "Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...." Senator Nelson later reflected on that day: "Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself."

Earth Day influenced the philosophy and momentum of the green movement, but the adoption of green practices in design and building is closely connected to the early modernist movement. Innovators like Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, just to name a few, were trailblazers of the first "green" practices. Take for instance Le Corbusier's creation of the first roof garden at the Villa Savoye in 1929 or the independent parasol roof at Ahmedabad http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jaabe/4/1/4_37/_article. And a search for the perfect melding of the natural environment with living space takes you no further than Frank Lloyd Wright. http://www.franklloydwright.org

Moving on to our present day and the current "green movement," think of all the elements present in today's society that were fostered by all the folks we've mentioned. I love Le Corbusier's quote "Modern life demands, and is waiting for, a new kind of plan, both for the house and the city." I think we're finally embracing that new kind of plan through all the ways we're including green practices into our ever evolving daily lives. Thoughts of solar panels, retro-fit green renovations, soy-based insulations, bricks in toilet tanks, dual-flush toilets, non-VOC paints, lyptus cabinets -- the list goes on!! Sourcing all these products and services can be daunting but rest assured that we’ll be here offering lots of tips, suggestions and resources in the weeks and months to come so we can all find our own eco-concious path in this new/old green world. Thanks for taking the time to read!

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• How Green was Born

• April 2009