Skip to main content

Environmentalism Gaining Momentum – Denis Hayes and Earth Day

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Green Heroes
  • 784 Accesses

Abstract

Earth Day was first proposed by peace activist John McConnell and Democrat Senator Gaylord Nelson. The principal organiser of the first Earth Day in 1970 was Denis Hayes. The first large-scale green event of the world was extremely successful with an estimated 20 million participants. Earth Day 1970 had a massive effect. It united various environmental branches and organisations under a common flag and changed people’s attitude toward the environment. Major environmental laws were passed that would have been unthinkable a few years earlier. Earth Day developed into a global event and became the largest secular holiday of the world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Hayes, D. (1977): Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-petroleum World. W. W. Norton & Company, New York.

Worth Reading

  • Hayes, D. (1977). Rays of hope: The transition to a post-petroleum world. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, D. (2000). The official earth day guide to planet repair. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, D., & Hayes, G. B. (2015). Cowed: The hidden impact of 93 million cows on America’s health, economy, politics, culture, and environment. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

Worth Browsing

Worth Watching

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Erdős, L. (2019). Environmentalism Gaining Momentum – Denis Hayes and Earth Day. In: Green Heroes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31806-2_31

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics