On this beautiful Earth Day 2013 I would like to point one of my favorite things about this borough, the vast amount of greenery I see practically everywhere I go. Whether one walks through Bronx Park East , drives through Mosholu Parkway or bike rides through Pelham Parkway there is green grass and trees everywhere. Even as we pass through the Grand Concourse or Hunts Point we see the beautification through nature by the Greenstreets initiative.
There are many reasons to Go Green here in The Bronx but one is the fact that we are a green borough. Here are a few wonderful facts about The Bronx:
- About one-fifth of The Bronx’s area is park land (Wikipedia:The Bronx).
- Three of the top 10 largest NYC Parks are in The Bronx including the Largest park, Pelham Bay Park (Van Cortlandt Park and Bronx Park) (NYC Parks FAQ)
- The Bronx River is the only entirely fresh water river that runs through NYC (Wikipedia:The Bronx)
- The New York Botanical Garden preserves the last patch of the hemlock forrest that once covered the city (Wikipedia:The Bronx).
With all the open land and greenery that The Bronx has to offer there is also the responsibility of those of us who call this borough our home. Earth Day is a great reminder that unless we take care of our environment our children will not have it to enjoy. While Earth Day will be over in a few hours and we may not think about it again until we see the fun Google Doodle or hear about it on the news, we live, work and/or play in this borough daily. It is up to each and every one of us to keep our green spaces clean from litter. Whenever you drop a piece of paper on the street or decide to toss that candy wrapper out of your car window you are trashing our beautiful borough by polluting the ocean. You may think is only one but with a population of over one million people that’s one million wrappers or pieces of paper piling up to keep our streets dirty and pollute our water bodies.
Keeping The Bronx beautifully booming and green is pretty simple really, if every single Bronxite would purpose not to throw garbage on the streets and clean up after their dogs (yes dog poop contributes to water pollution), that alone could eliminate over two million acts of pollution from our streets. At home we can keep The Bronx green by recycling and use environmentally friendly products. Here are 10 steps to take at home from the Environmental Protection Agency:
1. Replace your most used lights with Energy Star (What is Energy Star?).
2. When buying products at home look for Energy Star products.
3. Heat and cool smartly by changing air filters regularly, properly using a programmable thermostat, and having your heating and cooling equipment maintained annually.
4. Seal and insulate your home.
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
6. Use water efficiently
7. Be green in your yard by composting your food waste
8. Purchase green power
9. Calculate your household’s carbon footprint using EPA’s Household Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator.
10. Spread the word, tell family and friends
For more tips of What You Can Do visit the EPA website. Don’t know all the parks in The Bronx? Visit NYC Parks for a list of Bronx Parks. Remember, this is your borough, be the change you want to see and Go Green.
Happy Earth Day from Bronx-PR!