Earth Day has been around for more than 40 years. This year, Earth Day 2013 will be celebrated Monday, April 22 in 174 countries by over a half billion people making it the most celebrated secular holiday in the world.

U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin wanted to bring political attention to the troubled state of our environment. In 1962, Nelson approached Attorney General Robert Kennedy with the idea to have President Kennedy give voice to the environmental issue by going on a national conservation tour.

The idea was well received by both the Attorney General and the President. The resulting five-day, eleven-state tour in September of 1963 did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the birth of an idea that would become widely held and even embraced by the time of the first Earth Day Demonstration in 1970.

At a conference in September 1969, Senator Nelson announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The story ran from coast to coast generating an overwhelming response.

The success of the first Earth Day can be attributed to a spectacular example of synergy generated at the grassroots level in which 20 million people were organized along with thousands of participating schools and local communities. The American people finally had a forum to express growing concerns regarding the state of the environment. The land, rivers, lakes, and air finally had an advocate and a seat in the political arena.

Many important laws were passed by Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean. The EPA was created within three years of the first Earth Day.

Here are a few ways you can celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and throughout the year.

Clean your windows and other surfaces with water and vinegar solution instead of toxic cleaning products; add your favorite essential oil for fragrance.

Find out where you can recycle old batteries and electronic equipment such as cell phones, computer monitors, printers, etc. Firehouses, office supply stores, electronics stores, or your local recycle center will often take these items.

Dispose of unused paint, solvents, pesticides, and other household chemicals, and tightly close the containers of products still in use.

Replace all your incandescent light bulbs with longer-life, lower-energy-use compact fluorescent bulbs. For best results, choose lights with a color rendering index of 84 or greater and a color temperature of 3500 Kelvin or greater, and with a quick-start, electronic ballast.

Remember to turn off lights when you're not in the room.

Place a 2-liter plastic bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to save 2 liters of water per flush.

Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or shaving.

Unplug appliances you are not using.