Title
To recognize and celebrate Friday, April 22, 2022 as Earth Day in Columbus, Ohio.
Body
WHEREAS, celebrating Earth Day represents all of the hard work that has been done and will continue to be done to protect our planet and keep our families safe; and
WHEREAS, Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Earth Day 2022 is dedicated to preserving and protecting our health, families and livelihoods by investing in our planet; and
WHEREAS, Green Columbus is a Central Ohio nonprofit organization that started the local celebration of Earth Day in 2007 and organizes the Earth Day Columbus service week every year. Since its inception, Earth Day Columbus has helped Central Ohioans volunteer hundreds of thousands of hours and resulted in millions of dollars’ worth of goods and services being donated in Central Ohio; and
WHEREAS, Keep Columbus Beautiful, a national affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is a community improvement program started in 1984 that focuses on public education and volunteer service related to quality of life environmental issues including litter, recycling and beautification. In 2021 Keep Columbus Beautiful facilitated 11,409 volunteers, 742 cleanups, and the removal of 252,268 pounds of litter; and
WHEREAS, founded in 2008 by former Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus GreenSpot is a city program that inspires, educates, and recognizes households, businesses, community groups, and neighborhoods that adopt sustainable practices. Columbus GreenSpot currently has 23,258 members throughout the city; and
WHEREAS, Columbus City Council encourages all residents to volunteer for Earth Day 2022 and thank the many people and organizations in our community who will spend the month of April dedicating time to clean their neighborhoods and help our environment; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: That this Council does hereby recognize and celebrate Friday, April 22, 2022 as Earth Day in Columbus, Ohio.