In 1962, the American marine biologist, author, and conservationist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring – a book that would take the world by storm. A powerful manifesto for acting more carefully and respectfully towards our planet, it documented the effects of pesticides on the environment and called for humans to become better stewards of the Earth. Silent Spring sold more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and helped to spark an environmental movement that led to the founding of the US Environmental Protection Agency. It even resulted in the banning of the pesticide chemical Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, in the US.
Carson’s Silent Spring has also been credited as one of the inspirations of Earth Day, founded in 1970 to mark the birth of the modern environmental movement. In its first year, on April 22, a historic turnout of 20 million Americans joined demonstrations against the damage that industrial pollution was causing to the Earth’s air and water supplies. Like the release of Carson’s book, the creation of this new day was a landmark moment and led to the passage of several new laws, like the National Environmental Education Act and the Clean Air Act. Real-world results! By 1990, Earth Day had gone global, with the organizers teaming up with thousands of environmental groups from hundreds of countries, and over the next 40 years, April 22 has marked a day of global action and awareness-raising around important environmental goals, from recycling to renewable energy.
To celebrate this year’s Earth Day, and the legacy of Rachel Carson, here are 7 Manifestos for Protecting Planet Earth to get you feeling inspired.
Thich Nhat Hanh – Love Letter to the Earth
Love Letter to the Earth is a 2012 book by the Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition, Thích Nhất Hạnh. A more meditative manifesto, it puts forward the idea that we need a more mindful approach to climate change: a spiritual revolution from within. This involves, he suggests, no longer talking or thinking about the environment conceptually, as a though it is separate from us, something that can do something for us or a resource. Instead, we must begin to think of ourselves and the Earth as one and the same.
George Monbiot – For More Wonder, Rewild the World
You might have heard of “rewilding”, but in his incisive TED Talk, the British investigative journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot offers a new perspective on it, imagining “a wilder world in which humans work to restore the complex, lost natural food chains that once surrounded us”. Monbiot, who you might recognize from the recent controversial documentary Seaspiracy, argues for a mass restoration of ecosystems. When man stops wiping out wildlife, ecosystems can have a chance not just to recover, he argues, but thrive.
Nemonte Nenquimo - This Is My Message to the Western World
In October 2020, Nemonte Nenquimo, co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization Ceibo Alliance, first female president of the Waorani organization of Pastaza province, and one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, wrote a pleading and poignant open letter to Western world leaders in The Guardian. “You forced your civilization upon us and now look where we are: global pandemic, climate crisis, species extinction and, driving it all, widespread spiritual poverty. In all these years of taking, taking, taking from our lands, you have not had the courage, or the curiosity or the respect to get to know us. To understand how we see, and think, and feel, and what we know about life on this Earth,” she writes, about Western attitudes towards her Indigenous community. “I say to all of you: the Earth does not expect you to save her, she expects you to respect her. And we, as Indigenous peoples, expect the same.”
David Attenborough – A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
“The story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake – and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.” Most of us know David Attenborough as the soothing voice of Planet Earth and Blue Planet. His work as a broadcaster and nature historian on the BBC for almost eight decades has put him at the front lines of witnessing extinction, one of his deepest passions. This book, part memoir, part manifesto, urges all of us to “see the world, then make it better”.
Extinction Rebellion – This Is Not A Drill
There are many ways to get things done, and Extinction Rebellion believes that the best way is nonviolent civil disobedience. No one can argue that when their peaceful yet disruptive protests exploded across the world from May 2018 onwards, they made a big splash, bringing climate to the top of news agendas and making it so that governments could not look away. Their manifesto, This Is Not A Drill, “has facts to arm you, stories to empower you, pages to fill in and pages to rip out, alongside instructions on how to rebel”.
Ridhimi Pandey – Save Our Future, Save Our Planet
Most of us have heard of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist who has provided us with several manifestos when it comes to fighting climate change. There was her famous speech to UN leaders in 2019, and then her book, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. Less of us might have heard of the teenage Indian climate activist Ridhimi Pandey, but she is already making a big difference and getting noticed. After the Uttarakhand floods of 2013 prompted her to take notice of the disastrous effects of climate change, she sued the Indian government for not taking serious steps to combat climate change. It was dismissed, but she escalated it to the Supreme Court. In her TED Talk, she explains why fighting climate change is so important.
Joy Harjo – Remember
Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, author, and the incumbent United States Poet Laureate, as well as the first Native American to hold that honor. Her poem “Remember” is the perfect reminder of why we need to take care of this Earth:
Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star’s stories. Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night. Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her mother’s, and hers. Remember your father. He is your life, also. Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth, we are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems. Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe. Remember you are all people and all people are you. Remember you are this universe and this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.