EARTH DAY 2010

Every year since 1970, thanks to an idea by then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson, we’ve celebrated Earth Day on April 22. As eco-consciousness spreads, Earth Day has expanded into Earth Week, and even Earth Month. Below is a sampling of Earth events coming up throughout the borough:

Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day)

Green in BKLYN, 432 Myrtle Ave, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Green in BKLYN’s B-Earth Day Celebration. Not only is it Earth Day, but it’s the first anniversary of Green in BKLYN, a green home goods store in Clinton Hill. Visit the shop for the day-long party, which will feature a book signing by Brooklyn author Leda Meredith, Clinton Hill-based Vandra Thorborn answering questions about composting, Brooklyn artist Claudia Pearson signing her children’s book, and an organic wine reception. Visit greeninbklyn.com for all the details.

OutPost Lounge, 1014 Fulton St. from 4 to 10 p.m.: GREEN BKSTYLE. The April Brooklyn Fashion Week designers move toward more sustainable marketing and production. Visit OutPost Lounge to shop and see the green fashions featured. RSVP required. Visit www.brooklynfasionweek.com for more details.

Word Bookstore, 126 Franklin St. from 7:30 to 9 p.m.: Author Emily Elizabeth Anderson will discuss ideas from her new book, Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse and Remake Your Way to Sustainable Syle. She will talk about projects that make the home stylish and eco-conscious at the same time, demonstrating a paper crane chandelier, a CD case light and plastic bag flowers. Free, RSVP encouraged but not required. Visit www.wordbrooklyn.com for more information.

East River Bar, 97 South Sixth St., 8 p.m.: Earth Day is Every Day After-Party. Time’s Up, NYC’s Direct Action Environmental Organization, will be holding a bike ride for Earth Day, starting at Union Square Park South and ending in a barbeque at East River Bar in Williamsburg. Wear green for the ride and after-party, which will feature a DJ, dancing and eco art show of ecological and environmental prints by JustSeeds Cooperative.

Saturday, April 24

Flatbush Food Co-op, 1415 Cortelyou Road from 9 a.m. to noon.: Plant swap co-sponsored by Flatbush Food Co-op and Sustainable Flatbush. Trade perennials and other plants, swap gardening tips and get started with a garden. You don’t have to bring something to take something. Rain or Shine. Visit sustainableflatbush.org.

Fifth Avenue Family Festival, Fourth Street at Fifth Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Puppetry Arts and the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID team up to bring a family event to the neighborhood filled with crafts, games and giveaways. The event also has activities in celebration with Earth Day. Children can make puppets out of recyclable materials found in restaurants and stores located along Fifth Avenue, such as “pizza puppets” made out of pizza boxes from 7-Eleven. Free.

Audubon Center at Prospect Park, from 1 to 4:30 p.m.: Earth Day 40th Anniversary Celebration. Find out how Earth Day began and learn about how you can help nurture and preserve our planet. Calculature your carbon fooprint, bring old tee-shirts or sweaters to make a one-of-a-kind tote bag with Bags for the People, turn cereal boxes into wallets with Replayground, and Bash the Trash will be building recycled instruments and performing live. Free. Visit www.prospectpark.org for more information.

Brooklyn Flea, 176 Lafayette Ave (Saturday, April 24), and 1 Hanson Place (Sunday, April 25): Greenmarket’s Annual Flower Sales. Choose from hundreds of local, seasonal plants and flowers: annuals, assorted pots, bulbs, herbs, perennials, cut flowers, vegetable plants and more.

Sunday, April 25

McCarren Park, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The 3rd annual Go Green! Greenpoint! Earth Day Celebration. Event will feature vendors selling earth-friendly merchandise, organizations promoting earth awareness, school and community group participation, music, a health and wellness demonstration area, a recycling station and healthy food. Free. 

IKEA/Erie Basin Waterfront Park, One Beard St., from 1 to 5 p.m.: The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy Enviromedia Mobile Earth Day Celebrations 2010. Activities include: catch and release fishing, live underwater video exploration, electronics and sneaker recycling, kite flight, tours of the mobile museum, refreshments and live music. Event will also feature a ceremonial launch of a giant floating “earth ball” to 100 feet, signifying the 100 percent commitment to mitigation of impacts on climate change and ocean acidification. Free, for more information call (347) 224-5828.

Ongoing

The Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge, 290 Conover St. at Pier 44: "A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things." April 23 to May 9, Friday to Sunday at 7 p.m. A “floating fantasia” of a show performed on a docked barge in Red Hook about a man floating on a shrinking iceberg, a smuggling sea captain delivering messages in bottles, and a marooned sea creature. They will all collide in a mythical place called Florida. All tickets $18 through SmartTix. Visit www.polybeandseats.org/slimy.html for more details.

Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard: 5th Annual Eco-Festival, April 27 to 30. Theme for this year is “Sustainable NYC.” Various speakers, film screenings, environmental books on display, an afternoon of poetry, music and fashion, a green trade fair and more. Free and open to the public. For more information visit www.kingsborough.edu/eco-festival.                                  

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