Kenyans join global citizens online to mark Earth Day

Miss Earth Kenya 2016 Linda Gatere (left) flanked by Neer Chandaria from Chandaria Industries Ltd and Joash Mbulika,waters a tree after planting during the commemoration of the World Earth Day at the Premier Academy,Nairobi. Photo/Elvis Ogina (Nairobi)

Social media was awash with tributes to Mother Earth yesterday. Thousands of people all over the world overwhelmingly gathered online to mark the anniversary of the Earth Day.

Kenyans held celebrations in various places countrywide to mark the day. Various beauty queens and kings, led by Miss Earth Kenya and various corporates met at Premier Academy in Nairobi yesterday for a tree-planting event.

Speaking at the event, Sandeep Kaushik, the Chief Operation Officer at Chandaria Industries, encouraged everyone present to take it upon themselves to protect the environment.

Miss Earth Kenya, Linda Gatere, 23, a student at Kenyatta University, and an environmental ambassador, said Earth Day gave people an opportunity to reflect on how humanity has contributed to global warming.

In Nyeri County, Earth Day was celebrated at Mt Kenya National Park, where Youth for Earth- Kenya had invited the public to take part in a tree-planting exercise aimed at planting 3,000 seedlings.

Kiambu county government will be offering free entrance to the public to the Fourteen Falls tourist site, where the main event will be a clean-up exercise.

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, and since 1970, events have been held all over the world to mark the day and encourage environmental conservation