10
C RY D E R
P O I N T
APRIL Getting “Down to Earth”
BY JILL DAVIS
Cryder Point will be celebrating Earth Day 2018 on Saturday, April 21 (if the weather
doesn’t cooperate, the rain date is Sunday, the 22nd). In keeping with our eco-efforts
this year, it seems appropriate that we know how the day came about and the impact it
has had, and continues to have, here and around the world. Who said the Cryder Point
Courier couldn’t be educational?
In the more than 4.5 billion years of our planet’s history, five decades is a blink of an
eye. It’s hard to imagine now, but as recently as the 1970s, you could pull your eight-cylinder
gas guzzler into a station and say, “Fill ‘er up” with high-octane leaded gas. Factories
were free to pollute local waters with sewage, and power plants could choke the air
with unfiltered plumes of smoke.
The U.S. had no regulations in place to limit pollution to the environment back then,
and it seemed as if no one was even thinking about it. No one, that is, except for Gaylord
Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin, and a few other forward-thinking individuals. A
devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in 1969—the worst oil spill
in U.S. history at that point—galvanized Nelson to take action. He, along with several
grass-roots groups, coordinated efforts to create the very first Earth Day on April 22,
1970. The idea was to essentially carry out a march to raise government awareness of
environmental issues.
Well, the march had an amazing turnout, with about 20 million people rallying in
parks and auditoriums, and with wicked-fast speed this one-shot effort gained incredible
momentum. Within the year, the Environmental Protection Agency had been created,
and the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts had been passed. “It
was a gamble,” Nelson recalled, “but it worked.”
By 1990, the Earth Day Network had been founded, a non-profit organization dedicated
to building on those first footsteps. It was then that Earth Day went global,
reaching over 140 countries and involving 200 million participants. By 2010, over 190
countries were part of the effort, and Earth Day was celebrated by more than one billion
people all over the world. Now that’s networking! (To learn more about the Earth Day
Network, go to earthday.org, where you’ll find all sorts of great information on ways you
can reduce, reuse and recycle.)
So now that you know what Earth Day’s all about, have fun at Cryder Point’s Earth
Day celebration. And if that’s not enough Earth Day festivity for you, here are a few
other events happening in Queens to commemorate the day:
10 CRYDER POINT COURIER | APRIL 2018 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
EARTH DAY HIKE: FLUSHING MEADOWS CORONA
PARK
Sunday, April 22, 10am-11:30am
If you’re up for it, go take a hike! Celebrate Earth Day with the Urban Park Rangers
who will show you around. Hikers are advised to wear comfortable footwear and bring
water and a light snack. Meet at the Unisphere. Visit nycgovparks.org for more info.
FORT TOTTEN GARDEN CLEAN-UP
Sunday April 22, 10am-2pm
Want to stay local? Help the Bayside Historical Society celebrate Earth Day by making
its garden beautiful again. Participants will be clearing out last year’s weeds and old
plants, and refreshing the beds with new flowers and plants. Visit baysidehistorical.org
or call 718-352-1548 for more information.
SEVENTH ANNUAL KITE FLIGHT
Wednesday, April 25, 11am-2pm
The Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City is helping to host the 7th annual Kite
Flight event. Build and decorate your kite out of recycled materials before taking it for
a whirl in the air. Across the street from the park, enjoy free admission to the Noguchi
Museum. For more information, visit socratessculpturepark.org.
GREEN FOR QUEENS EARTH DAY FAIR
Wednesday, April 25, 1-4pm
Head over to the Central Queens Y in Forest Hills for a hodge-podge of earth-friendly
and age-appropriate activities. Adults can take advantage of workshops covering such
topics as greening your home and workplace, healthy cleaning products, and composting
for apartments, while children can try their hand at making seed necklaces and
sundial watches in between munching on healthy snacks. The Earth Fair will also be
collecting old cell phones and rechargeable batteries to be recycled. And if you’d like to
volunteer at the event, call 718-268-5011.