I can't imagine doing that today. There is a creek that runs behind my house called Escondido Creek which used to be dry. Now it runs year round because of lawn runoff and irrigation. It is thick with green algae because of nitrogen fertilizers. It's just silly.
Every rain takes it right into our waterways.
What does Earth Day mean to you right now. On a worldwide level I think we're in big, big trouble. Here in the United States we are comfortable enough that we can address some of these concerns. The poor Amazonian farmer, who just is trying to feed his family, doesn't care if he takes out a hectare of forest. There's nothing we can do here, sitting in our comfy homes, to make him care about it.