Earth Day NYC

April 22, 2014

Today is Earth Day, I rode my bike to Union Square to the Earth Day celebration. I remembered the very first Earth Day, celebrated in my childhood town of Middlefield, CT. There we learned about recycling newspaper and how to compost.  We're still teaching children how to be better steward's of this planet. At Union Square, Anti-Fracking information and petitions to the Mayor and Governor were available, which I signed. Surprisingly there was a lot of corporate presence, Toyota, Zip Car, Enterprise, United Airlines. Some games for the kids learning ways to recycle. There were recycling depots for everything from plastic to E-Waste.  I watched a guy push a cart quite a few blocks with about 8 old computers stacked ontop of each other to be recycled!

Here in NYC the trash is unbelievable and sometimes overwhelming to think how any recycling could make a difference. I am often times disheartened by the lack of recycling by office buildings and restaurants, they can do so much more, but there has to be a willingness to do it and an educational point about cause and effect.  One only has to spend a (sleepless) night in NYC to hear the 100's of Garbage trucks to understand just how much we waste,

Earth Day NY info for events throughout the week

I've been riding a bike in the city since 1996, it's a wonderful way to get around town. The city now has an incredible amount of bike lanes and a bike share program.  When CitiBank created the program, it was not without an amazing effort from City Government to give up so much prime real estate to be able to station and park bikes throughout the city. When I heard there were cries that the program was losing money to the tune of 2 million, I thought, but can you put a price on the advertising that Citibank gets everyday?  Plus the numbers came in after a late fall start and a very cold winter.  Today by the looks of the amount of empty bike stations and the increased amount of people zipping around the city on bikes. I'd say CitiBank has a win win situation. I would have preferred the program be sponsored by the City of New York and not "The Citi of Bank" and I am sure there are amazing not for profits that could benefit from taking over the program, should Citi decide it's too expensive, but hopefully not with another subsidy -bailout from the City.

Bike riding is Green, but dangerous. To ride a bike on the streets of NY is an exercise in full on attention and sometimes very close calls of accidents. I can't believe the bike riders I've seen without helmets, texting, riding the wrong way, riding on sidewalks. 

Still and all, I love riding my bike in the city. 

My building has a bike room. I'm lucky.

Happy Earth Day, get out and explore the outdoors of this amazing city. And do think about how you'd like to be a better stewart for our planet.  Consider starting a electronics waste e-waste collection at your work and building.

NYC and recycling E-Waste programs sponsored by Lower East Side Ecology Center can help.

past blogs:

Earth Day 2013 free download of my song Jungle

Earth Day 2012 My 10 Actions for Earth Day every day

Earth Day 2011 commentary about Japan's earthquake and BP Deep Water disaster 

Earth Day 2010 Thoughts for Earth Day the 3 R's- Reduce ReUse Recycle

 

Earth Day free song Jungle

Earth Day is every day in my world, but this week and especially today Monday April 22nd is the 'official' Earth Day, now 43 years in existence.  I remember the first one back in the 1970's and thank my Mom for opening my eyes to being more mindful and earth friendly. 

Why bother with Earth Day? Living a life with consideration for our planet's sustainability takes time, takes conscious effort and intent.  My take is the effort is well worth the time well spent, it’s good to feel good about caring about our world!!

In time, even one thing done to help make a difference, does make a difference.

 

In thoughtful celebration, here's a free Download of my song Jungle  

words + music C. Grier SESAC Singerfish publishing

 

Below are 10 actions for My Earth Day is Every Day: Call it sacrifice, learn to embrace it, or better yet, find a solution. But….Doing nothing is the wrong option.

!0 Actions to consider: it's not if but when you...

1) ...will decide it's too expensive to drive alone for one trip you could easily consolidate with other trips.  Rethink your relationship with your car and consider some kind of commuter transportation.

2) ...unplug all the electronics in your home when not in use, and do anything you can to truly understand your energy consumption.  Then make adjustments.

3) ...reduce, reuse and recycle.  How many bags do you throw away,  how many items could you reuse but find too time consuming to do anything about.  What do you do with all your now obsolete gadgets?  Find an e-waste depot near you.

4) ...ask local and national government to consider next generations, not next election cycles. If you find resistance, vote for change.

5) ...switch to homemade or non-petroleum based cleaning products (yes most household products from dish detergent to shampoo use petroleum).  And no fooling, switching is much healthier for your home environment.

6) ...support your local economy.  There is a reason you can get cheap goods at big box stores-off shore corporations pay labor cents per hour and get huge tax breaks to do so.  

7) ...eat out less and use what you have in your cupboard more.

8) ...update appliances and recycle the old (do not reuse those energy guzzlers). 

9) ...take advantage of state and national tax credits for updating your energy systems and home weatherizing.

10) ...teach a child to care about the environment and they will carry it with them throughout their lives.  It's their future.

 

One thing is certain: the world of today will be different tomorrow - and the day after that, and on and on ad infinitum. The question is not whether we must learn to live sustainably, but how fast we can do so. from University of North Dakota 

Earth Day 2012

Earth Day is Every Day. I have a wonderful image of billions of people around the planet consciously thinking, acting and learning about our Earth in the most healing and positive of ways. She has given us so much, and now more than ever we need new tools to listen and ultimately change the way we have been treating our home.

We have to take responsibility for our consumption and our waste.  We can't just throw it all away, it's got to go somewhere. What goes up must come down, what goes in must come out, so just because we can't see it (unless you live near a landfill, or happen to watch a garbage barge float by) doesn't mean it's not there.  What is mine becomes yours, for better or for worse, so let's try and do better.  

Observe the wonderment of Nature, and give thanks.

acorn earth day.jpg

walking through the woods, found this acorn nestled perfectly. Nice catch.

Earth Day 2012 10 Actions

Earth Day is every day in my world, but this week and especially Sunday April 22nd is the 'official' Earth Day, now 42 years in existence.  I remember the first one back in the 1970's and thank my Mom for opening my eyes to being more mindful and earth friendly. 

Why bother with Earth Day? Living a life with consideration for our planet's sustainability takes time, takes conscious effort and intent.  My take is the effort is well worth the time well spent, it’s good to feel good about caring about our world!!

In time, even one thing done to help make a difference, does make a difference.

Below are 10 actions for My Earth Day is Every Day: Call it sacrifice, learn to embrace it, or better yet, find a solution. But….Doing nothing is the wrong option.

!0 Actions to consider: it's not if but when you...

1) ...will decide it's too expensive to drive alone for one trip you could easily consolidate with other trips.  Rethink your relationship with your car and consider some kind of commuter transportation.

2) ...unplug all the electronics in your home when not in use, and do anything you can to truly understand your energy consumption.  Then make adjustments.

3) ...reduce, reuse and recycle.  How many bags do you throw away,  how many items could you reuse but find too time consuming to do anything about.  What do you do with all your now obsolete gadgets?  Find an e-waste depot near you. http://www.lesecologycenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=4&Itemid=7  and http://ecycler.com/

4) ...ask local and national government to consider next generations, not next election cycles. If you find resistance, vote for change.

5) ...switch to homemade or non-petroleum based cleaning products (yes most household products from dish detergent to shampoo use petroleum).  And no fooling, switching is much healthier for your home environment.

6) ...support your local economy.  There is a reason you can get cheap goods at big box stores-off shore corporations pay labor cents per hour and get huge tax breaks to do so.  

7) ...eat out less and use what you have in your cupboard more.

8) ...update appliances and recycle the old (do not reuse those energy guzzlers). 

9) ...take advantage of state and national tax credits for updating your energy systems and home weatherizing.

10) ...teach a child to care about the environment and they will carry it with them throughout their lives.  It's their future.

 

One thing is certain: the world of today will be different tomorrow - and the day after that, and on and on ad infinitum. The question is not whether we must learn to live sustainably, but how fast we can do so. from University of North Dakota 

2010 thoughts for Earth Day

2011 thoughts for Earth Day

Earth Day 2011

Earth Day is every day in my world, but this week and especially tomorrow April 22nd is the 'official' Earth Day, now 41 years in existence.  I remember the first one back in the 1970's and thank my Mom for opening my eyes to being more mindful and earth friendly. 

Japan's tragic earthquake and tsunami have had horrific and catastrophic repercussions on shortsighted human made environments i.e building nuclear power plants on earthquake fault lines, and ignoring tsunami calculations.  It's one year since the BP's Deep Water Horizons off-shore drilling disaster. Drilling is not the answer.  Finding new technologies away from our deep addiction to oil, is.  Hey we moved on from the horse when there was great resistance to automobiles.  I've just returned from a trip to France, gas there is  $8+ per gallon.  I took a high speed train from the south of the country to Paris, it was efficient, comfortable and cheap.

wind farm France TGV.jpg

Along the way I passed a field of wind turbines.  They might not be pretty to some people, and there is that whole NIMBY (not in my back yard) rage, but we have to do something to counterattack oil consumption.  And let me add this thought, if a wind farm was hit by an earthquake and tsunami, no one would be evacuating for miles or stopping to eat livestock or agricultural harvests for seasons/generations to come.  

Why bother with Earth Day? Living a life with consideration for our planet's sustainability takes time, takes conscious effort and intent.  My take is the effort is well worth the time well spent, it’s good to feel good about caring about our world!!

In time, even one thing done to help make a difference, does make a difference.

One thing is certain: the world of today will be different tomorrow - and the day after that, and on and on ad infinitum. The question is not whether we must learn to live sustainably, but how fast we can do so. from University of North Dakota website

My Earth Day 2011 thoughts to consider, it's not if but when you...

1) ...will decide it's too expensive to drive alone for one trip you could easily consolidate with other trips.  Rethink your relationship with your car and consider some kind of commuter transportation.

2) ...unplug all the electronics in your home when not in use, and do anything you can to truly understand your energy consumption.  Then make adjustments.

3) ...reduce, reuse and recycle.  How many bags do you throw away,  how many items could you reuse but find too time consuming to do anything about.  What do you do with all your now obsolete gadgets?  Find an e-waste depot near you.  

4) ...ask local and national government to consider next generations, not next election cycles. If you find resistance, vote for change.

5) ...switch to homemade or non-petroleum based cleaning products (yes most household products from dish detergent to shampoo use petroleum).  And no fooling, switching is much healthier for your home environment.

6) ...support your local economy.  There is a reason you can get cheap goods at big box stores-off shore corporations pay labor cents per hour and get huge tax breaks to do so.  

7) ...eat out less and use what you have in your cupboard more.

8) ...update appliances and recycle the old (do not reuse those energy guzzlers). 

9) ...take advantage of state and national tax credits for updating your energy systems and home weatherizing.

10) ...teach a child to care about the environment and they will carry it with them throughout their lives.  It's their future.

Regarding my 10 actions to consider: Call it sacrifice, learn to embrace it, or better yet, find a solution. But,

Doing nothing is the wrong option.

2010 thoughts for Earth Day

Thoughts For Earth Day

read my Earth Day 2011 blog

Catalogs:  don’t just throw them away, certainly recycle, use as wrapping paper, better yet call the number on catalog and get your name removed from the list.  Most company’s products are available to view online and are the most update anyway.

Household cleaning products: step away from your kitchen and bathroom sink cabinets and smell the toxins!  Most household products you’ve been using since well, who can remember when? Most are really toxic and there are great alternatives, and much cheaper too.  For example, save an old window cleaner spray bottle, buy a gallon jug of white vinegar and experiment mixing with water, I use about one cup vinegar for one spray bottle, and voila a great window cleaner.  Same for cleaning floors, vinegar in a hot bucket of water does the trick.

A clothes dryer is energy wasteful and actually destroys the fabric, Where else does all that lint come from. Little by little the dryer is eating away at your clothes.  Okay, I too use a dryer, but not for too much time.  Actually we over-dry our clothes, or over pack the dryer so it has to work that much harder.  Try hanging clothes over the shower bar and you’d be surprised how quickly things dry on their own.  A folding wooden clothes hanger was best investment I’ve made.  Where possible, hanging laundry on a line makes clothes smell fresh and saves energy.

Reuse as much as possible, I know it can be yucky, but come on what’s wrong with reusing a plastic veggie bag from the store?  I rinse and hang on a door cabinet pull (hide away when neighbors drop by, so the kitchen doesn’t look like a plastic factory), plastic is the most intensely disgusting wasteful product we seem to not be able to live without.  Plastic bottles, try switching to a glass one, or refill.  Of course do not leave a plastic bottle to heat up in a car-harmful toxins seep into the drink.  Same with plastic containers, for a long life, hand wash, as the dishwasher heats up enough to release toxins.  Scratching plastic with coarse sponge can also release toxins, so be gentle with them.  When done recycle.

To-Go containers are horrible and here in NY we can’t even recycle most of them.  Look for the lower numbers on the bottom.  Actually, aluminum to-go containers are the best bet as they can be recycled.  Luckily products are coming more and more available that are biodegradable. So try and either support those businesses who use them, or make sure to ask them to make a switch.

So my thought for Earth Day, we have to take responsibility for our consumption and our waste.  We can't just throw it all away, it's got to go somewhere.  What goes up must come down, what goes in must come out, so just because we can't see it (unless you live near a landfill, or happen to watch a garbage barge float by) doesn't mean it's not there.  What is mine becomes yours, for better or for worse, so let's try and do better. 

 

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, we have reason to take at least one day to say Thank You to our beautiful planet.  I have added a Sustainability section to this website where I'll be adding thoughts and suggestions from time to time.

Feel free to also send my your thoughts and comments.

Here's the link to my section called Reduce Reuse, Recycle:  Sustainability Matters 

Happy Earth Day, so precious, full of grace

Can't believe it's been 40 years since Earth Day began.  We've come so far in regulating pollutants (removing DDT for example) and saving precious resources.  But alas, we have so much more to do, for every step forward we make, we take many steps back due to the force of our own nature to override natures commitment to balance.  

The Earth gives and takes (as recent catastrophic events have proven).  We have powerful nations who can make progressive and positive changes to how they can support and protect our environment for us all not just within a border.  We can all make a difference.

Enough about that for now today should be a day of gentle refection and honoring of our amazing planet.

Last week I was upstate and watched a Bald Eagle fly overhead.  Forty years ago when Earth Day began the future of the Bald Eagle was uncertain.

Today reflect on a beautiful natural experience you might have witnessed- For me, it’s a double rainbow last Sunday during a gentle rain, a fragrant flower in Bryant Park, blanket of stars overhead last night and a glorious moon.