Earth Day is a worldwide movement of civil initiatives to protect the planet as a common global Home, uniting many different events and actions, namely, environmental, ecological and peacekeeping. This date was established by a decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 2009. This is not so much a holiday as an occasion to once again think about the problems of a fragile and vulnerable environment, the problems of relationships between man and world around him.
Ecological exhibitions and festivals, marathons and conferences about nature, cleaning streets and territories in cities, planting trees and stopping traffic on busy streets of big cities, cultural events and concerts are among the most popular events in the sphere of protection and improvement of environment, held on this day throughout the world.
It is should be noted that there is an annual tradition in the framework of Earth Day in the overwhelming majority of countries to ring the Peace Bell within one minute that is a is a symbol of peaceful life, friendship and solidarity of all peoples, and a call to action in the name of preserving culture and the best achievements of mankind. The meaning of this ceremony is that during this minute, people think about how to save the planet, how to improve life on it, to feel like inhabitants and a part of the Earth.
The first Peace Bell was cast in 1954 to commemorate the tragedy Japanese cities experienced nuclear bombs and installed at the UN headquarters in New York. It is cast from coins collected by children of all continents, orders and medals, other honorary signs of people from many countries are also melted into it. The inscription on the Bell reads: “Long live absolute world peace.” Then similar bells began to be installed in other countries, namely, Japan (1954), Germany, Poland, Turkey (1989), Mexico (1990), Australia (1992), Mongolia (1993), Canada (1996), Brazil (1997), Russia , Argentina (1998), Ecuador (1999), Uzbekistan (2003) and other countries.
Earth Day also has its own flag depicting one of the first photographs of our planet from Space. This is a sign of the realization that only through joint efforts we can solve global environmental and social problems on the Earth. Therefore, it is no coincidence that this holiday is actively supported by cosmonauts. After all, they were the first to tell the world about how beautiful and defenceless our planet is, and how it needs the caring attitude of all of us.
