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By MELISSA T. CASTRO

U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson might not be a household name, but his legacy certainly is and lives on to this day through Earth Day.

Conceived by Nelson in 1969, following an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, Earth Day evolved over the next 20 years from an environmental teaching day at U.S. colleges to a hands-on day with followers in over 174 countries, actively participating by planting trees, collecting garbage and gathering ideas for more sustainable energy.

Today, Earth Day is considered the largest secular civic event in the world.

You can contribute by planting flowers that support pollination, collecting garbage in a local park, walking instead of driving for the day, connecting with nature, switching a magazine subscription to a paperless version or countless other ways. No action is too big or too small. It’s time to invest in our planet.