Editing Earth Day (section)

=== The "Earth Day" name ===
The solution to the first problem came from an unexpected direction.  Shortly after the turn of the year, [[Julian Koenig|Julien Koenig]] stopped by the national offices and volunteered to help. Koenig was a Madison Avenue giant. His campaign for Volkswagen, "Think Small," was later cited by Advertising Age as the "greatest advertising campaign of the 20th century."<ref name="Garfield-1999">{{Cite news |last=Garfield |first=Bob |date=March 29, 1999 |title=AD AGE ADVERTISING CENTURY: THE TOP 100 CAMPAIGNS |url=https://adage.com/article/special-report-the-advertising-century/ad-age-advertising-century-top-100-campaigns/140918 |work=adage.com |quote="To the careful observer, the values that underpinned the VW ads actually were aligned with many of the values of Earth Day.  The Think Small campaign rebutted the industry's preoccupation with conspicuous consumption with what might be termed "conspicuous frugality."  The ads were dismissive of massive V-8 engines, tailfins, and bushels of chrome. They took pride in high mileage, low maintenance. They viewed cars as transportation, not status symbols."}}</ref>

Over coffee, Hayes confided that the "teach-in" moniker was not working and asked whether Koenig had any ideas. Koenig asked for a few days. A week later, he returned with an assortment of mock-ups for ads, laid out around the announcement of "Ecology Day," "Environment Day," "Earth Day," and "E Day." Koenig said that his personal favorite was Earth Day – in part because April 22 happened to be his birthday, and "birthday" rhymes with "Earth Day."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yardley |first=William |date=June 17, 2014 |title=Julian Koenig, Who Sold Americans on Beetles and Earth Day, Dies at 93 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/business/julian-koenig-who-sold-americans-on-beetles-and-earth-day-dies-at-93.html |access-date=February 21, 2019 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Hayes immediately agreed. Koenig offered to prepare a fully refined ad. Hayes insisted that it include a small coupon soliciting funds for the threadbare operation. Koenig's ad was visually arresting, and perfectly summed up the issues and values, the feisty-but-welcoming tone that the campaign had adopted. Hayes loved it and decided to bet the farm. He committed about half of all the money in the campaign's bank account to buy a full page in the ''Sunday New York Times'' opinion section.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 1, 2020 |title=Two New York Times ads, separated by half a century, call millions to action |url=https://www.earthday.org/50-years-later-the-new-york-times-runs-another-full-page-ad-for-earth-day/ |website=Earth Day}}</ref>

The ad was a huge success. Overnight, "Earth Day" became the almost-universally-used name for the upcoming event. The ad generated more than enough revenue to repay its cost, and thousands of potential organizers sent in their names and addresses along with their checks. In future months, magazines and alternative newspapers ran the ad for free, generating still more names and more financial support. The national office started using Environmental Action, rather than Environmental Teach-in, on its letterhead and publications to promote Earth Day.<ref>{{Citation |title=Senator Nelson did not initially care for the change, and he continued to insist on calling the event Environmental Teach-In through April. Ultimately, however, Nelson too adopted the new name and later took enormous pride in being termed the father of Earth Day}}</ref>
 
At this point, Hayes made a far-reaching decision. In those early days, it would have been easy to obtain trademark protection for Earth Day and force compliance with a set of standards by anyone using it. Hayes decided, however, that he wanted the name to be broadly used by anyone who planned to focus on environmental issues that spring.<ref>{{Citation |title=One consequence of leaving the name in the public domain was that bad actors could use it as well. Over time, major corporate polluters, rapacious timber operators, oil companies, and other bad environmental actors have run their own Earth Day campaigns, often leading to public misperceptions that they are funding or otherwise aligned with the Earth Day Network}}</ref>

Although "Earth Day" swiftly replaced Environmental Teach-in, the second problem proved more complicated.  College activists, for the most part, viewed anything other than ending the war as a distraction. A majority of the Earth Day staff had cut their teeth as organizers against the war and saw no conflict. The war appeared to be winding down, and they felt it was prudent to start paying attention to the far more profound changes needed to produce a healthy, sustainable America. But time was short, and college activists were not responding.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Hayes spent a day reviewing the letters Senator Nelson had received and discovered that very few were from college students. Most were from women who appeared to be college-educated homemakers who wanted to do something to improve the world for their children.  Another large share was from K–12 teachers.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Hayes decided to shift the campaign's focus from colleges and universities to community organizing. Building off the successful strategies of the anti-war movement and the civil rights movement, he decided to promote large urban rallies, focused on major environmental issues, while also encouraging environmental education at the K–12 level.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Bryce Hamilton, who had been Midwest coordinator, was shifted to K–12 coordinator, and it proved to be a great choice.<ref name="STC1">{{Cite web |title=Hamilton had earlier worked for Save the Children |url=https://www.savethechildren.org |website=savethechildren.org}}</ref> Hamilton reached out to the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association to enlist their members; he provided materials to thousands of educators who wrote to the group directly; and he distributed the most creative ideas he received from anyone to everyone else. In April, more than 10,000 primary and secondary schools engaged in Earth Day activities, mostly education and service actions like beach clean-ups, tree planting, and recycling.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

[[Walt Kelly]] created an anti-pollution poster featuring his comic strip character Pogo with the quotation "[[We have met the enemy and he is us]]" to promote the 1970 Earth Day. Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action to change human behavior and provoke policy changes.<ref name=":24aa">{{Cite web |title=Earth Day: The History of A Movement |url=https://www.earthday.org/history |access-date=August 16, 2013 |website=Earth Day Network}}</ref>

On the first Earth Day an estimated 20 million Americans took part in rallies, marches, and teach-ins calling for environmental reform.<ref name=":24bb">{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Jack |date=November 1985 |title=The Birth of EPA |url=http://epa.gov/35thanniversary/topics/epa/15c.htm |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922192621/http://epa.gov/35thanniversary/topics/epa/15c.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://grist.org/culture/recycling-symbol-logo-plastic-design/ |title=How the recycling symbol lost its meaning |date= June 12, 2024 |access-date=June 29, 2024 |last=Yoder |first=Kate |website=Grist}}</ref> Earth Day is now observed in 192 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network). According to Denis Hayes, the first Earth Day 1970 organizer and current Board Chair Emeritus of Earthday.org, Earth Day is now "the largest secular day of protest in the world, and more than a billion people participate in Earth Day actions every year."<ref name=":24CB">{{Cite web |title=About |url=http://www.earthday.org/about/default.aspx |access-date=April 15, 2013 |website=Earth Day Network|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423053633/http://www.earthday.org/about/default.aspx |archive-date=April 23, 2007 }}</ref>

By far the largest source of funding for the first Earth Day was organized labor.  Walter Reuther had led the United Auto Workers (UAW) since 1946, and he was a progressive supporter of civil rights, opposed the war, and championed the environment. He was a founding member of the Coalition for Clean Air, which successfully lobbied for the Clean Air Act of 1970. Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, made the first donation to support the first Earth Day in the amount of $2,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|2,000|1970|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="Grist-2010"/> Under his leadership, the UAW also funded telephone capabilities so that the organizers could communicate and coordinate with each other from all across the United States.<ref name=":24MLM" /> The UAW also financed, printed, and mailed all of the literature and other materials for the first Earth Day and mobilized its members to participate in the public demonstrations across the country. According to Denis Hayes, "The UAW was by far the largest contributor to the first Earth Day" and "Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped!" Hayes further said, "Walter's presence at our first press conference utterly changed the dynamics of the coverage—we had instant credibility."<ref name=":5aaCC"/>

At a meeting of the Environmental Teach-In board of directors, the finance committee chair arrived with a check for $20,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|20,000|1970|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) from Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil). That would have provided an effective measure of financial relief for the financially strapped group.  But Hayes declined the check, convincing the board that it would destroy the credibility of the nascent organization. He said that he would be delighted to accept money from clean sources, but no other corporate money was ever raised for the national organization.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Individual donations were a significant source of funding, generally accompanied by a contribution slip from the Earth Day Ad providing the donor's name and address.  Larry Rockefeller persuaded Robert Rauschenberg to create and donate a batch of Earth Day lithographs, but the Earth Day staff lacked contacts in the art world who were able to sell them for their $2,000 market value, so they were provided to donors for much less.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

The sale of standard posters and especially pins brought in additional revenue. The staff refused to sell bumper strips because they would be attached to cars.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}