Earth Day New York: Times Square
Times Square; 4/20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 42nd St. at Broadway; 212-768-1560
Some entertainment to complement your earth-consciousness, with Broadway performances from Voca People, Sistas the Musical, and My Sinatra, and musical performances from Alec Gross, Sami the Great, and more. While you’re there, check out the CO2 E Drive and Vehicle Fashion Show. Maybe you will win a new caaaaaarrr (just kidding, there’s no chance to win).
Earth Day New York: Grand Central
Grand Central Terminal and Vanderbilt Ave.; 4/19-4/21; 42nd Street at Park Ave.
Grand Central has the whole family covered with three days of exhibits, stories, Broadway performances (including one from WICKED), and a food-and-nutrition panel with Slow Food New York and Rouge Tomate. Don’t forget to check outside on Vanderbilt Avenue—that’s where the musical performances on Saturday will get hot, for reals, with this weather.
Sex Tips to Stay Green
Babeland; 4/19 at 7 p.m.; 43 Mercer St., nr. Grand St.; 212-966-2120
You want to be green in all aspects of your life, so why not in the bedroom (or kitchen, or living room, as it were) as well? Babeland has the tips for you to heat it up indoors while keeping global warming down outdoors. Also, the first fifteen participants get a free gift bag, so get there early and get there often.
Nourishing Earth Day in the Bronx
Bread Basket; 4/21 at 11 a.m; 89 W. 166th St., nr. Nelson Ave., The Bronx
Head to the Bronx for the third annual Nourishing Earth Day, a day of education with on-site recycling demos, free fresh produce from a vegetable-oil-powered van, giveaways, art, and more. And if you’re looking for somewhere to volunteer, they’re still taking applications here.
Green Festival at Jacob Javits Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center; 4/21-4/22; 655 W. 34th St., at Eleventh Ave.; 212-216-2000
Bring your sustainablility appetite to this massive event featuring over 300 exhibitors, live music, film festival, a kids program, and raw, vegan, and vegetarian food vendors. Also, an eco-fashion show, so start cutting up those potato sacks now.
Earth Day at the High Line
The High Line; 4/22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Gansevoort St. to 34th St., nr. Eleventh Ave.; nr. Eleventh Ave.; 212-500-6035
The park in the sky is bringing people together with a participatory art performance and a kid-centric music show. For those into urban composting, there’ll be an interactive station for gardeners, and Sunday also marks the debut of their High Line field station, a booth where trained volunteers provide information about the park’s design, history, art, horticulture, and whatever else you ask. We suggest you ask if they’re single, because caring about the environment = hot.
Have a Meal
Various Locations; 4/22; bandbhg.com
For Earth Day, the restaurants in the Batali and Bastianich Group (including OTTO and Eataly) will offer up “green” menus, which, thankfully, won’t mean all your food will be sauced in a wheatgrass emulsion, but that everything will carry a low carbon footprint. They’ll be taking regionality, shipping, pesticide and fertilizer use into account, plus the sustainability of all animal products. If you dine there this Sunday, you’ll go home with a little something extra: a custom packet of organic radish seeds that’s also a two-for-one ticket to the The New York Botanical Garden this summer. Find participating restaurants at bandbhg.com.
BGA Textile Drive
Times Square ; 4/25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 42nd St. at Broadway; 212-768-1560
When you think of environmentally friendly, you may not automatically think of the Great White Way, but the theater community has been working hard to keep things green with BGA (Broadway Green Alliance). On April 25, they’re hosting a textile drive, where you can bring your unwanted clothing and textiles to the TKTS island and they’ll be reused and recycled by Wearable Collections.
Million Trees NYC Spring Planting Day
Various Locations; 4/28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; nycgovparks.com
Get your hands dirty with the NYC Parks Department by planting one of 20,000 trees in one of sixteen park sites across the five boroughs. It’s the gift for Mother Earth (and New Yorkers!) that keeps on giving.