Earth Day marks the anniversary of what many consider to be the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The idea of Earth Day came to the founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The Senator announced his idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media and with assistance from Denis Hayes, built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. As a result, on April 22nd, 20 million Americans took part in a movement to demonstrate their desire for a healthy, sustainable environment. Soon after the first Earth Day, the passage of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air, Clean Water, Endangered Species Act, and many other environmental laws soon followed. In 1990, environmental leaders asked Hayes to organize a global campaign, which mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries, lifting environmental awareness onto the world stage. Earth Day is now celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. You can read more about the history of Earth Day at www.earthday.org
Green initiatives have continually increased at all of our business units, some of which include the purchase of hybrid prototype vehicles, motion-censor lights, solar projects, facility energy audits, e-billing campaigns, rain water collection systems, and videoconferencing. These efforts as a company do not go unnoticed, the local township will be awarding UGI Corp with the 2012 Upper Merion Environmental Award for the substantial green initiatives at the Valley Forge headquarters.
In the spirit of Earth Day, staff were asked to vote for an initiative that would show our commitment to protecting the planet. The majority vote was for the contribution of funds towards the planting of trees. AvantiGas will therefore donate money to a local tree planting scheme in order to help towards a healthy, sustainable environment.