‘Earth Day’ is the world’s largest environmental commemorative day, established to raise awareness of the seriousness of environmental pollution and encourage the practice of environmental protection. Every year on April 22, Earth Day, buildings and landmarks around the world participate in a lights-out event, turning off their lights for ten minutes. In that moment when everything is immersed in darkness, the Earth takes a brief rest alongside a brightly shining night sky. Let us learn about Earth Day — a day to recall the meaning of the environment that the Earth bestows upon us and to practice environmental protection.
[Earth Day Official Poster © Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment]
Sympathy Leading to Action: Why 20 Million People Took to the Streets
An oil spill occurred in the United States. In January 1969, an offshore drilling facility of the Union Oil Company exploded off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, releasing approximately 11.36 million liters of crude oil. The sight of oil-covered shorelines and dying marine life sent a huge shock across the United States, and a social consensus to confront environmental issues was formed.
Spurred by this accident, then-U.S. Senator Gaylord Anton Nelson declared April 22, 1970, as ‘Earth Day’ to galvanize nationwide attention to environmental issues. That year, Denis Hayes, then a Harvard University student, led Earth Day-related events and drove their spread across the nation. Around 20 million American citizens participated in these events. Citizens took to the streets and parks in a nationwide demonstration for a sustainable environment. Following this, from 1990 onward, Earth Day events expanded internationally.
[Gaylord Anton Nelson, who led the establishment of Earth Day © Earth Day Organizing Committee]
Environmental legislation discussions were also activated in other countries, and substantial policy changes followed, including a succession of corporate sustainability management declarations. In the year Earth Day was declared, 1970, the Clean Air Act was amended in the United States, and in 1972, the Clean Water Act was enacted and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established.
Ten Minutes of Lights Out, Ten Minutes of Consciousness On
In 2022, the domestic environmental media outlet Greenium calculated just how effective the Earth Day lights-out event could be. First, referencing a Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment press release, the number of Earth Day participants was assumed to be approximately 3 million. Then, each participant was assumed to represent one household, and each household was estimated to have 4 lights at a fluorescent lamp standard power consumption of 60W. According to the results, the 10-minute lights-out saves approximately 120 MWh (megawatt-hours) of electricity — equivalent to the annual generation of a 91 kW solar power plant. Converted to greenhouse gas reductions, this also amounts to approximately 55 tons CO₂eq. The results of the small actions practiced on Earth Day do not seem so small after all.
[N Seoul Tower exterior lighting turned off for Earth Day 2020 © Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Public Communication Office]
However, compared to South Korea’s total greenhouse gas emissions, this figure becomes modest. Out of the 2024 provisional national greenhouse gas emissions of 691.58 million tons CO₂eq, the reduction from a 10-minute lights-out accounts for only about 0.000008%. This is because ten minutes later, the lights of all buildings return to normal, failing to translate into permanent energy reduction activities.
Thus, compared to the total amount of greenhouse gases we actually emit, the impact of the Earth Day event may not seem large. But there is a clear reason why numerous institutions participate in Earth Day events: the Earth Day event cannot be evaluated solely by the number of greenhouse gas reductions. Just as plogging — picking up trash while running or walking — makes environmental issues feel like more of an everyday concern, Earth Day events likewise prompt us, in a moment when daily life briefly pauses, to reflect on the relationship between the energy we use and the Earth.
Along with the ten minutes of darkness we accept on Earth Day, let us reflect on what this light and warmth that we take for granted right now has been exchanged for. If we use even just those ten minutes out of the year to think about the debt we owe the Earth, our daily lives will begin to change, little by little.
by Editor L