Trego's Mountain Ear

One of the fun things about earth day is that if you look for the origins of it in google search, google will prompt you to finish your search with the phrase ‘founder composted girlfriend’.

Which, yes. Sort of. This isn’t the senator, Gaylord Nelson, who got things rolling in 1970. Girlfriend composter was Ira Einhorn. There’s some debate as to whether or not he actually founded Earth Day, but none on the girlfriend front. He fled the country to avoid the trial in ’81, and was extradited to the US in 2002, when he was sentenced to life in prison.

Einhorn was an environmental activist and a speaker at the first Earth Day event in Philadelphia. He claimed to have been responsible for founding Earth Day, but the folks organizing the event stated that he wasn’t involved at all.

As for the Senator, Gaylord Nelson, his Earth Day is credited with prompting congress to create the Environmental Protection Agency. He went on to be involved with several large pieces of environmental legislation, such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Waters Act. He stayed involved in promoting the environment throughout his career, and doesn’t seem to have made any especially colorful headlines.

An aside: Many thanks to the folks out cleaning Fortine Creek Road this weekend.