Earth Day is an annual event held on April 22 where people across the globe host events to celebrate the planet and raise awareness for environmental issues.
San Jose City College science teachers spoke about what Earth Day means to them and how we can make our planet cleaner.
“What I can say about Earth Day is, particularly here in the Bay Area, more and more people are cleaning up the Bay and finding ways to recycle and ride public transportation instead of using their cars,” SJCC science professor Oliver Christen said. “People are more aware of climate change and should continue to do this every day, not just on earth day.”
Christen also spoke about what Earth Day means to him.
“It means how to protect our only Earth we live on and to make it sustainable for future generations to come,” Christen said. “It’s a great idea to get the word out and let local businesses and communities get everybody together on this.”
SJCC science professor Kim Nguyen said that she thinks Earth Day was somewhat overlooked because there were other important events happening on Earth Day.
“I feel like there was not a lot going on Earth Day because of the war and the pandemic,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen also spoke about what Earth Day means to her.
“It reminds me that the Earth is important and we should try to keep it sustainable and keep it safe. Try to live simply and try to save energy by reusing things to create less waste,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen also suggested putting Earth Day on social media.
“I feel that not a lot of people know the real meaning of Earth Day. People are just out there sharing about it for one day and not understanding it,” Nguyen said. “But I think the education way is better, putting it out there won’t really help a lot.”
SJCC professor Dr. Guillermo Castilla said we should protect the Earth for future generations.
“It means life and happiness for the next generation, we need to take care of it the best we can,” Castilla said. “I think informing people about how important it is to preserve the environment because we only have one planet and we sometimes forget that.”
Editor’s note: This article was edited May 2.
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