American awareness about the fragility of our planet and the need to protect our environment has grown from many seeds. The following links illustrate ways in which environmental messages reach mass audiences.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc., has been recruiting ordinary citizens to participate in its campaign against litter for more than 50 years. Its "Keep America Beautiful" slogan, posted on billboards and road signs, has been a constant reminder that keeping roadsides clean is everyone's responsibility. http://www.kab.org/

Keep America Beautiful and the Ad Council have produced public service announcements (PSAs) for television to raise public consciousness about responsibility for the planet. The Crying Indian, a PSA first broadcast on Earth Day in 1971, became iconic in the environmental movement. The ad became one of the most memorable and successful campaigns in advertising history and was named one of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th century by Ad Age magazine. http://www.adcouncil.com/campaigns/historic_campaigns_pollution/

In 1972, astronauts on board Apollo 17 captured the first full view of Earth suspended in space, exposed in full sunlight. Amid a growing awareness of environmental concerns, the "Blue Marble" photograph became a symbol of the planet's fragility in the cold vast blackness of space. More than 30 years later, NASA receives more requests for this photo than any other, and the agency suggests that it could be the most frequently reproduced photograph of all time.
http://www.adcouncil.com/campaigns/historic_campaigns_pollution/

Prominent film celebrities have contributed their names and faces to PSA campaigns on protecting the environment. For instance, actor Steven Segal urges viewers to properly dispose of used motor oil.http://www.earth911.org/usa/master.asp?s=psa&a=psa/psa.asp

The Globe Program is a worldwide school-based education and science program that encourages students to become directly involved in gathering environmental data, reporting their data through the Internet, and collaborating with scientists in the analysis of that data.
http://www.globe.gov/cgi-bin/resourceroom.cgi?parentid=10&lang=en&nav=1

The youth-oriented network MTV addresses environmental issues with a weekly show, Trippin, hosted by film star Cameron Diaz.
http://www.mtv.com/onair/dyn/trippin/series.jhtml

Photographs courtesy of Keep America Beautiful®, Inc. (2); NASA; Earth 911; Globe Program; AP/WWP Photo by Chris Pezzullo