Earth Day is celebrated around the globe on April 22. This is a day where people can gather to promote environmental health, an issue that seems more important every year.

The history of the day dates back to 1969, when a US Senator named Gaylord Nelson, witnessed the effects of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA. After this, rallies began happening across the United States for better protection of our earth, leading to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species act becoming a law.

St. Edward’s University is known for its great amount of trees, including famous ones, such as the campus’s central tree, Sorin Oak. St. Edward’s even won the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education award for the seventh consecutive year. This Earth Day, students can be conscious of their carbon footprint and also enjoy the bountiful nature that the campus has to offer.

Gallery • 6 Photos

(Left) Indian blankets, Gaillardia pulchella, surround the track at the Lewis-Chen Family Field at St. Edward's. These perennials are native to the southern U.S. and Mexico and belong to the Asteraceae family.