I was at home working, staring at my laptop screen during the Easter holiday when I saw that outdoor company The North Face had launched a global petition to make Earth Day (April 22) an officially recognized holiday.
Earth Day has been celebrated unofficially since the 1970s in North America. Earth Day was created by Gaylor Nelson, governor of Wisconsin (1958-1962) and U.S. Senator (1963-1981), as a response to major environmental disasters. The creation of Earth Day ignited an environmental activist movement we have benefited from for 50 years. Nelson’s objective of “an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all human beings and living creatures” is as relevant today as it was in 1970.
Following in Nelson’s footsteps, The North Face has launched a petition to make Earth Day a national holiday to give people a chance to disconnect for the day and explore this incredible planet.
When I initially heard about the petition I had a knee-jerk reaction and thought: nice, but if The North Face does not close its retails stores to give its employees and partners a chance to disconnect, be present and explore, it would be meaningless. I was delighted to find that The North Face did, in fact, close its 113 stores in North America, as well as its global headquarters, for Earth Day.
BRAVO!
It got me to thinking that we need not wait until Earth Day is recognized as an official holiday to do that ourselves. Our statutory holidays in Canada celebrate various religious and historical events as well as individuals who have transformed either our nation or the world. Creating a holiday to celebrate the Earth we inhabit and who has given us so much is not a stretch. It is overdue!
The North Face hit the nail on the head: when people take time to appreciate Earth, they feel more connected to it and are more likely to protect it. And that’s why we, at TinEye, are not going to wait to make Earth Day a holiday. We closed our office on April 22, 2019 to celebrate our first official Earth Day holiday.
If you would like to help Earth Day cross the finish line and become the celebration that Earth deserves, sign The North Face petition. Or make it a holiday in your firm, without delay!
– Leila Boujnane, TinEye CEO
