It started in 1970. Nearly 20 million Americans joined hands to deliver a message: “our environment sustains us, and so we too must work to sustain it”. Earth Day has since become a worldwide movement to attain the common goal of a sustainable future.
Everyone can contribute to make Earth better planet, and this is what this day, celebrated on April 22 every year, is all about.
Google has, like every year, dedicated a doodle to Earth Day this year too.
The annual Earth Day doodle was created in partnership with famous British primatologist and anthropologist Dr Jane Goodall, who is an ethologist (animal behavior expert), a conservationist, an activist, and an animal-lover too.
In the doodle, the UN Messenger of Peace and Dame Commander of the British Empire, Dr Goodall shares her Earth Day message with the world. She speaks about her inspirations and tells people what all they can do to have a positive impact on the planet.
“It is so important in the world today that we feel hopeful and do our part to protect life on Earth. I am hopeful that this Earth Day Google Doodle will live as a reminder for people across the globe that there is still so much in the world worth fighting for. So much that is beautiful, so many wonderful people working to reverse the harm, to help protect species and their environments,” she says.
With all of us working together, says Goodall, “I am hopeful that it is not too late to turn things around, if we all do our part for this beautiful planet.”
Listen to her message here.
Born on April 3, 1934, in London, Goodall followed her passion of living among wildlife in Africa and left for Gombe, Tanzania, at the age of 26 and began her landmark study of chimpanzees. In 1960, she told the world chimpanzees make and use tools. Her discovery rocked the scientific world and helped redefine the relationship between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.
After she found out that the survival of the chimpanzee species was threatened, Dr Jane Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) in 1977.
The institute works towards conservation of species, but with a different approach. It tries to improve the lives of people, animals, and the environment by working on their connectedness to each other.
Matthew Cruickshank was the lead artist on the Doodle project. “What a joy to collaborate with Jane Goodall on Earth Day. I can think of nothing more important than celebrating life through shape, colour, design and movement – attributes the natural world gives us every day. How lucky we are,” shares the artist who is a graphic designer, an illustrator and an animator who has worked with Disney and Warner Bros, in a blog on the JGI website.