Earth Month

Earth Day falls on 22 April each year. It began in 1970, when US Senator Gaylord Nelson recruited a young activist, Denis Hayes, to organise teach-ins on college campuses. The US Environmental Protection Agency notes that Earth Day is now often marked across the whole month of April.

The first Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans, according to EARTHDAY.ORG. In 1990 it went global and mobilised 200 million people in 141 countries. Today the organisation works with more than 190 countries.

In Thailand the day is called Wan Khumkhrong Lok. Thailand's Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning says the country first marked it in 1990, when lecturers and students from 16 institutions came together after the death of Seub Nakhasathien, chief of the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

Earth Month is a good time to start one habit and keep it. Carry your own bag and bottle, sort your waste at home, and join a beach or community clean-up.

At AVALON Artisan Gallery, From Waste to Wonder starts with something people throw away. More than 50,000 tonnes of green mussel shells are discarded in Thailand each year, and we reclaim them as MyraShell and MyraGem.