Celebrate Earth Day. Go Green, New York

Today is Earth Day, a day that recognizes a global movement for a safer, healthier, more sustainable environment.

The idea for an annual Earth Day was originally championed by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, an outgrowth of one of the "teach-ins" of that era. Environmental depredations had reached a critical mass in the public consciousness. The pesticide DDT -- not banned in the United States until 1972 -- was decimating bird populations, gritty smog blanketed and begrimed New York City, and some polluted waterways actually caught fire. But the Earth Day movement made decade-by-decade progress , until it became the global movement it is today.

You can find out more information about Earth Day on several web sites, including Earth Day New York and Envirolink. Among other things, you can learn how to Count Down Your Carbon.

In 2007, New York City launched the enviro-initiative called PlaNYC, a comprehensive blueprint to increase sustainability in the city. This year, New York events like the Earth Day at Grand Central and Earth Day in Central Park are great ways to observe Earth Day. There is also free admission on Earth Day to the Museum of the City of New York, the last day to see the exhibit "Growing and Greening New York."

As Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum urges all New Yorkers reduce, reuse and recycle to make the City even greener.