South Afrıca Feature Package Earth Day

epa02118978 School children from Craighall Primary School recycle paper before school classes start , Johannesburg , South Africa , 13 April 2010 . The school weighs the paperthen credits are then given to the class the child is in . At the end of the year the class with the most credits is given an award . Recycling is generally not a common practice in Africa with many of the cities on the continent having huge pollution problems . Earth Day is celebrated around the world annually on 22 April to inspire awareness ofappreciation for the earth ' s environment . On Earth Day individuals as well as environmental groups take action to raise awareness ofpolitical attention to environmental issues such as pollution , global warmingclimate change , to encourage public endeavour for a clean environment . Earth Day which was founded by by U . S . Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2010 .  According to the official website : ' Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy , energy efficiency , renewable energygreen jobs . '  EPA/KIM LUDBROOK