This past Saturday marked the Earth Society Foundation's 40th annual celebration of the original Earth Day, the first day of spring. John McConnell and Margaret Mead established the Earth Society Foundation. The foundation aims to foster worldwide participation in the peaceful care of Earth, and promote the annual celebration of Earth Day on the Equinox (March 20-21).

Since 1970 the Society has honored people and initiatives that serve the world community and the planet. The first recipient was former UN Secretary-General U Thant. Over the years many well known names have been honored by The Earth Society. This year the Society gave an award to Ode! Other award recipients include NY City Mayor Bloomberg and Reid Stowe.

The Peace Bell Ceremony took place at the UN Rose Garden on March 20th at 1:32pm EST, the exact moment of the Equinox. The ringing of the Peace Bell was followed by an awards reception where Ode's co-founder, Hélène de Puy, accepted the award for Ode. Hélène emphasized the importance of spreading positive stories about the world we live in. She urged all gathered to nourish their worldview wisely by focusing on positive developments. Ode magazine will continue to scout for the stories that will change the world for the better. Stories that point to solutions like that the one on micro-finance and Mohammed Yunus in an issue of Ode in 1995, almost ten years before Mr. Yunus was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize!

Ode is humbled by this award and would like to thank The Earth Society Foundation for this honor. We encourage everyone to join us in our efforts to nurture, conserve, and care for the natural resources and life of Earth.

About Ode Magazine

Ode Magazine is "the international magazine for intelligent optimists." We cover people, organizations, and new discoveries that help make the world a better place. We write about everything from global politics and green technology, to health and spirituality. We publish eight times a year, and we're based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where we started Ode in 1995. For more information, please visit www.odemagazine.com or contact Danielle Cambier, public relations intern at intern [at] odemagazine [dot] com.

Ode Magazine

Ode Magazine

Ode Magazine is "the international magazine for intelligent optimists." We cover people, organizations, and new discoveries that help make the world a better place. We write about everything from global politics and green technology, to health and spirituality. We publish eight times a year, and we're based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where we started Ode in 1995. For more information, please visit www.odemagazine.com.

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