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What Can We Learn About the History of Pollution This Earth Day?

What Can We Learn About the History of Pollution This Earth Day?

Meghan Marino, Associate Manager, Field Marketing, Wiley

April 22, 2024

On the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of Americans marched for the sake of a cleaner environment. That same year, congress passed the Clean Air Act to control emissions and bring air pollution under control. 

This year’s theme of “Planet vs. Plastics” aims to raise awareness on the health risk of plastics, demand an end to fast fashion, and advocate for the progress of the United Nations Treaty on Plastic Pollution.

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What are the Different Types of Pollution? 

Whether through air, soil, or water, pollution is the contamination of the natural environment by substances that cause adverse change. Pollution represents one facet of the triple planetary crisis, while climate change and biodiversity loss make up the others. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), 99% of people breathe polluted air and at least 1.7 billion people use a drinking water source that is microbially contaminated. Additionally, thousands of sites all over the world face soil pollution. Contaminated soil poses a threat to our food security by rendering food unsafe for consumption and inducing metabolic changes in plants that adversely affect crop yields.

The Threat of Plastic Pollution

In the late 19th century, John Hyatt founded a process to make celluloid, or artificial plastic. As a result of his discovery, the 20th century marked a boom in the use of these composed polymers, or plastics, due to their light weight, affordability, and durability. 

The ever-growing use of single-use plastics has led to a global crisis, one that threatens our planet’s biodiversity and greatly pollutes the environment. In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has stated that plastic debris makes up about 80% of all marine debris in our oceans’ surface waters and deep-sea sediments. Microplastics have been detected in animals of all kinds, and  impact appetite and fertility. They have also been found in human organs, blood, stool, and breast milk. 

Long story short? Plastics are a problem.

Plastic Pollution in the Archives

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Notes from the Ecological Society of America (ESA) highlight the need to educate youth on plastic pollution and its consequences. Discussed therein are cases of plastic pollution that have threatened agricultural livestock and marine animals. When asking young students in Baltimore if they knew that released balloons may kill marine animals, students said yes, but it was “so much fun and it probably wouldn’t happen anyway.” 

View the collection: Committees (ESA) Education of Young Children, Harold Mooney, Peter Feinsinger, et al., Hargrett Library, University of Georgia/Ecological Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Harold A. Mooney, January 7, 1988-August 5, 1989, Environmental Science and History archive. (Available via trial or institutional access)


A Deeper Dive into the Archives: Air Pollution

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In 1971, the Nato Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) met to address air pollution. The assembly outlined air as the most indispensable natural resource, presenting concerns regarding ozone depletion, the dangers of gas exhaust as a principal source of pollution, and the far-away future of replacing the internal combustion engine with a cleaner engine.

The committee presented the idea to establish an international convention relating to air pollution and urged member governments to forbid the addition of lead to petrol. From then, many countries began to phase out leaded gasoline. Japan was the first country to entirely ban it in 1986, while Algeria was the last in 2021.

View the collection: NATO Committee on Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS): environmental issues Edward Peck, F. B. Wheeler, et al., The National Archives, London, England, Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Scientific Relations Department and Science and Technology Department: Registered Files (SR and SM Series), 1970 Jan 01-1971 Dec 31, Environmental Science and History archive. (Available via trial or institutional access)


A Deeper Dive into the Archives: Soil Pollution

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Also from 1971, the UK/Japan co-operation on environmental pollution contains many bills and laws regarding environmental pollution control. One bill called to prevent soil pollution by banning poisonous substances from agricultural land (exclusive of radioactive substances), while managing already polluted land to prevent raising livestock and plants harmful for human consumption. Another bill targeted the disposal of waste matter, with the hopes of reducing soil pollution, conserving the environment, and improving public sanitation.

View the collection: UK/Japan co-operation on environmental pollution, D. I. Packham, F. B. Wheeler, et al., The National Archives, London, England, Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Scientific Relations Department and Science and Technology Department: Registered Files (SR and SM Series), 1970 Jan 01-1971 Dec 31, Environmental Science and History archive. (Available via trial or institutional access)


A Deeper Dive into the Archives: Water Pollution

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Water pollution became a suspected agency of infection in the late 19th century, responsible for spreading diseases including cholera and typhoid fever. Read at the fifth annual meeting of the Poor Law Conference in 1876, David Page’s concerns highlighted pollution caused by sewage, manufacturing, metal works, and mines. Page further stressed the various dangers of water pollution, referencing it as a facilitator of deadly disease.

“The bright-looking and palatable contents of the water bottle on West-end dinner tables differ from the turbid river water with its nameless but visible floating im-purities only in the delusive circumstance that they have been clarified, but not purified, in their passage through a few feet of sand and gravel,” writes Page.

View the collection: The Water Supply of the Country and the Pollution of Rivers in Their Hygienic Aspects: A Paper Read at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Poor Law Conference for the Four Northern Counties, Held at Durham, 8th and 9th August, 1876, under the Presidency of the Right Hon. Lord Eslington, M.P. David Page, RCP Library, 1876, The Royal College of Physicians archive. (Available via trial or institutional access)


What Can We Do to Combat Pollution?

Initiatives and organizations such as the European Green Deal, the United States Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the African Green Growth Forum, and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) among others, signal impactful strides towards a cleaner Earth. But what can we do at an individual level? Here’s a list of some things you can do to combat pollution and make a positive impact:

🛍️ Pack Your Groceries with Reusable Bags: The world uses 5 trillion plastic bags a year, and only 13% are estimated to be recycled. Unfortunately, animals mistake these bags for food. By packing groceries with reusable bags, fewer single-use plastic bags enter the waste cycle.

👕 Consider Shopping Second-Hand: Shopping second-hand is a wonderful way to reduce, reuse, and recycle. By shopping at your local thrift store, less waste enters the landfill.

🚶‍♂️ Choose Sustainable Transportation: Whenever feasible, walk, bike, or use public transportation instead of driving a car. If you need to drive, consider carpooling or using ridesharing services to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and decrease emissions.

🌱 Support Sustainable Agriculture: Choose locally grown and organic foods to reduce the environmental impact of food production. Supporting sustainable farming practices helps preserve soil health, reduce chemical runoff, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

🚫 Reduce Chemical Usage: Limit your use of household chemicals and opt for eco-friendly cleaning products. Avoid using pesticides and fertilizers in your garden, and explore natural alternatives for pest control and soil enrichment.

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What Are We Doing at Wiley?

At Wiley, we’re committed to being Carbon Net-Zero by 2040, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We’ve taken action to cut down on our plastic packaging and are partnering with Trees for the Future where we have committed to planting over 1,000,000 trees. 

Environmental Research: Dive into Wiley Digital Archives this Earth Day

This Earth Day, as we explore primary resources that address pollution, we invite you and your researchers to dive deeper into Wiley Digital Archives. Uncover the history of environmental research and immerse yourself in the Environmental Science and History (ENV) archive, which is now 100% uploaded, or dig into the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) archive to journey through the world as we know it. 

Through collaboration, we look forward to building a future full of discoveries and actions that benefit our planet. Happy Earth Day! 🌏

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