Earth Day

On April 22, 1970 across Florida and across the nation, hundreds of thousands of Americans took unprecedented action to “give earth a chance” on the nation’s first earth day. Throughout the area hundreds of clubs, schools, organizations and environmental groups attempted to dramatize the threat to mankind’s environment on earth. The “Dead Orange Parade” -organized by the New Party- traveled along Biscayne Boulevard in the same route as the Orange Bowl Parade. The New Party tried to shock Miami shoppers into concern with acid rock music and protest speeches in front of the Dade County courthouse. One of the 26 floats in the parade beckoned tourists with “Come down and visit the rose bowl just off the Fontainebleau”, a reference to the mouth of the Miami Beach sewage outfall line in the Atlantic Ocean. At the University of Miami about 5,000 people attended a day-long teach-in about environmental problems and threats. At the same time, school children, in communities throughout Florida conducted old fashioned clean-ups and tree plantings.

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