Spring Clean-up Activities Planned Countywide Earth Day Weekend
While Westchester County has moved its Earth Day celebration from April 21 to May 13 at the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, there are still many things around the community you can do to celebrate the planet and a healthy environment.
Greenburgh Nature Center will be holding its annual Earth Day celebration on Sunday, April 23, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Participants can learn about composting, solar energy, and the importance of bees. They can also volunteer to help renew the Center’s 33-acre grounds through the removal of invasive foliage, native plant and flower gardening. There will be storytelling, live music, an opportunity to meet the animals, and crafts. This free event is for all ages and will be held rain or shine. The nature center is located at 99 Dromore Road, Scarsdale. Scheduled programming for the day includes: 10:30 a.m. Pre-event yoga (open and free to the public); 12 p.m. Solarize Your Home Information Session; 12:45 p.m. Storytime; 1 p.m. Solar Punch Live Music and Solar Cooking Demonstration; 1:45 p.m. Local Farmers CSA Coalition Presentation; 1:45 p.m. Storytime; 2 p.m. Meet the Worms and Learn to Compost Skillshare; 2:30 p.m. The Buzz on Bees Demonstration; 3 p.m. Tree Planting Ceremony with New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
Ongoing programs (12 to 4 p.m.) include: Crafts: Make Your Own Seed Balls; Recycled Paper Bead Bracelets; Meet the Animals; Advocate for Earth with Food and Water Watch; Solar Punch live performance of environmentally conscious music.
Volunteer opportunities (12 to 3 pm) include: Invasive foliage removal; Plant tree saplings in the woodlands; Plant flowers in planters; Plant native perennials by the longhouse and wigwam; Litter sweep.
More information can be found at www.greenburghnaturecenter.org.
ShopRite’s Earth Day Challenge. To encourage customers to get involved, ShopRite conducts an “Earth Day Challenge” each April, providing complimentary cleanup kits – including essentials like gloves and garbage bags – to volunteers interested in beautifying their communities. The program makes it easy for participants to clear litter from beaches or spruce up local parks, and helped spark 6,000 volunteers to participate in community clean-ups at 130 locations across five states in 2016. Since the program’s inception, over 40,000 participants have taken part in ShopRite’s “Earth Day Challenge.” Those interested in receiving a kit can call 1-800-ShopRite for more information.
Westchester Pitch in for Parks already has over 300 volunteers signed up to clean up the Bronx River Reservation and other areas around the county from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 914-231-4530 to find out how to volunteer. In White Plains, bring gloves to help clean up Cranberry Lake Preserve, Old Orchard St., North White Plains (Saturday, April 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
Disney Nature Movie. In honor of Earth Day, the White Plains BID presents a free film screening of Disney Nature’s “Born in China,” – a must-see for all panda lovers. Tickets are first come, first served; 10 a.m. at City Center 15: Cinema de lux. 19 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains.
