Earth Day is an international celebration that takes place around the world on April 22nd to show support for environmental conservation, preservation, stewardship, and reciprocity. Earth Day is observed in more than 193 countries and reminds each one of us that Earth and its habitats provide us with life and subsistence. Earth Day in its current form was first celebrated in 1970, but cultures around the world have been honoring Earth for millennia. 

The Sierra College ECOS (Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students) Club was founded in 1990 and has been integral in the implementation of the Sierra College Earth Day celebration for more than three decades.   

Our theme this year, Power to the Planet, aims to amplify the voices of diverse people, cultures, and ecosystems around the world who have important stories to share about reciprocity, stewardship, and environmental justice. 

Event Purpose:  

The event is free and open to the public. We invite Sierra College students, faculty, staff, and the wider community to join us in a day of celebration and education to: 

• Raise awareness of, give thanks for, and celebrate the bountiful gifts that we receive from nature;  
• Educate ourselves and others about how human activity impacts Earth systems – both negatively and positively;  
• Remind each other that we are in a reciprocal relationship with all of the systems of our planet – what we use, how we behave, what we create affects all organisms, including humans;   
• Share information about how we can reduce our ecological footprint and live by the Seventh Generation Principle, the Haudenosaunee philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future; 
• Strengthen our community bond so that we can support each other and work together toward a more just and sustainable future.  

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”  ― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass 

“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”  ― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants 

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