Earth Day
Recycling the occasional Poland Spring bottle is all well and good, but there are better ways to help the planet. Check out our top ten picks for Earth Day events in NYC.
Mon Apr 19 2010
One man’s trash is another man’s iPod speaker—no, seriously—at the TerraCycle Green Up Shop (Port Authority Bus Terminal, North Terminal, Eighth Ave at 41st St; 212-967-9823, terracycle.net; Tue--Sun 11am--7pm, free; through May 22). “M&M wrappers are fused together to make a denser, stronger material, which is then used in lieu of the speaker casing,” explains TerraCycle’s VP of media relations, Albe Zakes, of the recycled electronic item, which is one of the shop’s most popular pieces ($15). In a joint effort with the Fashion Center Business Improvement District, the Port Authority and the Times Square Alliance, the eco-friendly company has created a temporary retail space on the ground level of Port Authority in honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, which will showcase a wide range of green products and services and host special weekly events. It’s also an easy way to rid your apartment of all the empty Utz bags you can find: As part of the store’s nonrecyclable recycling program, TerraCycle will collect more than 30 different kinds of nonrecyclables, including yogurt cups, candy and energy bar wrappers, and chip bags.
It may not have all the glitz and star-studdedness of Bryant Park, but Brooklyn’s fashion scene has got one thing on its Manhattan counterpart: sustainability. “The Brooklyn style is really one of practicality and individual expression,” says Bonnie Sandy, organizer of GREEN BKSTYLE! (Outpost Lounge, 1014 Fulton St between Irving Pl and Downing St, Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 646-736-7984, brooklynfashionweek.com/unleashed; Thu 22 4--10pm, free). During the event, you’ll learn about green fashion through conversations with local designers, and you may end up dropping some cash on local, environmentally friendly duds. Melissa Lockwood will showcase pieces from IQTEST, her line of clothing made from salvaged fabric, while lingerie company Storm’s Den will show off its eco-undies. But it’s not just up to the designers to make the clothing green—you’ll also need to put in the effort to make your outfits sustainable. “While what you buy is a significant decision, your wardrobe care and maintenance plays a major part,” says Sandy. She suggests that people start small when giving their closets a green makeover—one topic they’ll cover during the event is how to morph an everyday accessory, like a silk wrap or scarf, into a new piece of clothing.
Want to save the planet and some money? Hop on your ten-speed and join the hordes of bike lovers for the Earth Day Is Everyday Ride (Meet at the southern end of Union Square, E 14th St between Broadway and University Pl, times-up.org; Thu 22 at 7pm, free), a group ride organized by environmental organization Time’s Up! that’s been happening for nearly 20 years. This year’s trek goes from Union Square to Billyburg watering hole East River Bar (97 South 6th St between Bedford Ave and Berry St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), where riders will take part in a BYO barbecue and be treated to a DJ, dancing and an Eco Art Show, courtesy of JustSeeds Cooperative.
If you like your vino in abundance and sans pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, imbibe more than 20 different “green” wine varietals at Chelsea Wine Vault’s Think Earth Drink Green tasting (Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Ave at 16th St; 212-462-4244, chelseawinevault.com; Thu 22 7--9pm, $30). “Green wines are getting a lot more attention,” says Chelsea Wine Vault web editor Jonathan Proville. “People are starting to pay attention to freshness and provenance of products.” While locally produced brands like Long Island’s Shinn Estate are some of the store’s most popular offerings, Proville notes that their organic wines from Italy and France is gaining a following.
While living a green lifestyle is admirable, it ain’t cheap. “I think that the average person is still figuring out how to incorporate being eco-aware into their everyday life,” says Emily Elizabeth Anderson, author of Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse and Remake Your Way to Sustainable Style. “I want to help people on all levels—save them time, money and make their environment better, too.” She’s making good on that promise with 90 minutes of discussion and demonstrations from her new book at Word (126 Franklin St at Milton St, Greenpoint, Brooklyn; 718-383-0096, wordbrooklyn.com; Thu 22 7:30--9pm, free), including how to create a paper-crane chandelier and beautify your home with flowers made from those pesky plastic bags. “It’s fun to turn your perspective sideways,” says Anderson. “You start looking at everything differently.”
Those who really want to get their hands dirty can do so at the 16th Annual Hands On New York Day (Locations throughout the city; for more information and registration details, visit handsonnewyorkday.org. Sat 24 9:30am--3pm), where 5,000 volunteers will come together to clean, paint, garden and plant their way to a more beautiful city. “Typical Hands On New York Day projects include gardening, removing winter debris, painting fences and murals, planting flowers and beautifying playgrounds,” says Colleen Farrell, senior director of marketing and communications for New York Cares, which plans this volunteer-based project—and 11,000 others—each year. “This year, volunteers will also be painting colorful murals on Jersey barriers in partnership with the Urban Art Program.” Volunteers will be placed at one of 70 different sites in groups of 50 to 250, where they’ll work from 9:30am to 3pm with a BYOL lunch break. Participants are also encouraged to fund-raise in this serve-a-thon event (like a walkathon, but with manual labor) to double their impact.
Concertgoing goes solar at NYU’s second annual Off the Grid 2010: A Sustainable Music Festival (Solar One, 2420 FDR Drive at E 23rd St; nyu.edu/earthweek; Sat 24 4--8pm, free), which takes place on the solar-powered stage of Solar One, a green energy, arts and education center (it’s also made from recycled materials) on the East River. Musicians from a variety of genres, including indie-folksters North Highlands and experimental synth-poppers Cold Cave, also help reduce the event’s carbon footprint—they’re all from New York City. Man-about-town Andrew W.K. will host the day’s festivities, which must end when the sun goes down.
If you’re lucky enough to have any sort of outdoor space—or even just a tiny corner of your apartment that’ll fit a plant—landscape designer and environmentalist Carolyn Summers says it’s time to start Growing Native—i.e., plants that are sustainable and local. Find out how during a lecture at the Horticultural Society of New York (148 W 37th St between Broadway and Seventh Aves, 13th floor; 212-757-0915, hsny.org; Tue 27 at 6:30pm, $10). “A garden full of native plants doesn’t have to look wild,” Summers explains. “It can be quite neat and formal in appearance.” Over the course of the evening, she’ll provide gardening pros and novices alike with practical guidelines for creating beautiful, green spaces; expect talk of sweetgum trees, everblooming honeysuckle and golden ragwort, all of which are native to the city.
Sustainable is the watchword this week, and it’s also the theme of the fifth annual Eco-Festival at Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Blvd at Decatur Ave, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn; 718-368-4550, kingsborough.edu/eco-festival; Tue 27--Apr 30, free). This gathering of students, faculty and community members is an opportunity to learn what you can do to help New York City stay on track for becoming one of the world’s most sustainable cities. Since this is a school, expect traditional lectures: City University of New York sustainability coordinator Holly Kallman (Wed 28 11:30am--12:30pm) and Anna Lapp, author of the best-selling Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It (Thu 29 11:30am--12:30pm) are both scheduled to speak. But workshops, art installations and film screenings will be on the agenda too; documentarian Allison Prete will discuss her film Lavender Lake, about the Gowanus Canal’s transition from being one of the most important waterways in the world to one of the dirtiest (Tue 27 12:40--2:50pm), while the Earth Slam! will bring poetry, music and fashion together in an eco-conscious way in one afternoon (Wed 28 3pm--5pm). If you want to get even more involved in greening the planet, the first-ever Green Trade Fair will bring 18 local organizations together to discuss the rise of environmentally focused careers (Wed 28, 10am--12:30pm).
Earth Day New York has brought planet-friendly events to the city for more than 20 years now; in honor of the group’s birthday, it has expanded this year’s Earth Day festivities in both duration (there’s a week’s worth of fun) and location. On Thursday 22, EDNY will partner with the City of New York to present a celebration in Times Square (Broadway between 45th and 46th Sts; 11am--2pm, free). The stage will be set for an afternoon of entertainment, including Mayor Bloomberg’s official Earth Day announcement and musical performances by the likes of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Wailers and the cast of Hair. Additionally, Grand Central Station’s Vanderbilt Hall will host the 20th annual EarthFair (Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall, 42nd St between Lexington and Vanderbilt Aves; earthdayny.org; Apr 19--24 10am--8pm, free), which will focus on the city’s environmental future. Look for the sustainable fashion area, where a dozen designers will display—and sell—their wearable green wares, and for “Giant Earth Images,” a series of paintings of the world by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and more. Outside, keep an eye out for a baby T. Rex from the Walking with Dinosaurs live show, which arrives at Madison Square Garden this summer; “[It will] help make the connection between what happened to the dinosaurs and the modern-day extinction that’s underway currently,” according to EDNY executive director Pamela Lippe.
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