The beginning of Spring in New York City symbolizes more energy and time with nature. Mother Nature shines in all her glory, with greenery all around and birds chirping in harmony. However, springtime even brings a feeling of more concern for the environment, with sustainability being the central theme. 

On April 22, 2024, New Yorkers celebrate Earth Day with the rest of the world. This year’s theme is Planet versus Plastic. The increasing usage and disposal of plastic is a profound concern for the world. This year’s theme aims to reduce plastic production by sixty percent by 2040. This can only happen through collective efforts and more awareness. 

The No Plastic advocacy and movement will thrive only if individuals, businesses, governments, innovators, activists, climate justice advocates, faith leaders, and nonprofits work toward drastic change.

The important steps in the alleviation of plastic usage include:

• Signing the plastic treaty.
• Educating communities on plastics and their impact on nature.
• Rejecting fast fashion.
• Ensuring more participation in global clean-up.
• Practicing sustainability every day.

New York City is leading the no-plastic run with several initiatives that reduce or eradicate single-use plastic. In March 2020, New York City strictly banned single-use plastic at retail stores and promoted alternatives like paper and cloth reusable bags.

Polystyrene foam or Styrofoam bags have been strictly prohibited in stores, restaurants, and other establishments. This has helped prevent the blockage of waterways and landfills with non-biodegradable material. 

Promoting reusable water bottles in communities, businesses, and public gatherings is a significant step in the non-plastic movement in New York City.

Sustainability is the core mantra behind New York’s take on No Plastic usage and consumption habits. Additionally, ride service providers like Carmel Limos NYC are at the forefront of practicing minimal or no plastic usage and checking contamination during and after a ride. We use paper disposal bags and encourage our drivers to use reusable bottles and boxes when working. 

We’re implementing various initiatives to promote alternative material usage and reduce the overall consumption of plastic. We can encourage customers by providing incentives like discounts and reward points for those using reusable material. 

We provide guidelines to drivers to minimize in-car plastic usage and disposal like using cloth seat covers, glass bottles, and biodegradable car washing products. 

Carmel Limos New York City is fostering partnerships with eco-friendly brands to promote and increase biodegradable and compostable product usage. Incentivizing drivers who make sustainable daily choices and empowering them to take action are Carmel Limos’ approaches to the Earth Day theme. 

Carmel Limos provides eco-friendly alternatives for in-car amenities and promotional material. Additionally, we organize public outreach programs, community events, and clean-up efforts to encourage sustainable practices. With these steps, we aim to leverage the influence of banning plastic usage and contribute to a greener and more promising future for our citizens.

In this blog, we discuss the various events and venues in New York City to celebrate Earth Day and its core theme.

Union Square Park

Sustainability advocates and environmentally conscious citizens organize a virtual stage for prolific speakers and environmental communities. The event offers a platform for people to connect, discuss, and learn about plastic-free sustainability and brings people together as a unified force against single-use plastic. The program lineup includes public speaking, performances, and community building to address environmental issues.

The organizers are bringing together environmental nonprofits, businesses, climate campaigns, and communities for useful interactions and new insights into plastic usage. 

A key event is education about sustainable and organic food, food packaging, and distribution. The Lessons Learned session will recall past damages and risks and the movement towards building plastic-free green spaces. Volunteering and community engagement provide hands-on experience for environmental lovers. 

The virtual stage event will include conversations on climate change and plastic usage with contributions from Bill Nye the Science Guy, Alysia Reiner, actors Robert Downey Jr. and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and climate advocates like Alexandria Villasenor and Jerome Foster II, focusing on plastic minimization. 

Book your Carmel Limo to participate in this event and celebrate Earth Day. Remember to bring your reusable bottles and boxes to support this year’s theme.

Queens County Farm Museum

Queens County Farm at Floral Park is celebrating the fifty-fourth anniversary of Earth Day through agricultural events and pollination activities. Key activities include spring cleaning in the garden, garden bed preparation, sifting compost, trash flash mob, mulching trails and paths, and rock removal in the forty-seven-acre site of Queen’s historic expanse. 

Regenerative farming and community food scrap collection for composting are famous at Queens County Farm Museum. The focus on nutrition, biodiversity, climate change, and plastic-free health and wellness makes this event a must-visit on Earth Day. The historic farmland also organizes outdoor activities like eco scavenger hunts, apiary visits, gardening, fresh produce-based cooking, scenic outdoor meals at the picnic table, and binging at the local farmer’s market. 

Queens County Farm Museum aims to reshape awareness of plastic usage, its environmental impact, our interactions with nature, and critical environmental protection. 

Book a roundtrip with Carmel Limo from anywhere in New York City to enjoy a hassle-free ride to the venue. Opting for a multipoint service ensures that your friends join your environmental endeavors on Earth Day. 

The Orchid Show at the Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is organizing the spectacular Orchid Show from February 17, 2024, to April 21, 2024. Walking across the garden at the Haupt Conservatory and relishing over two thousand varieties of these beauties is the finest way to celebrate Earth Day. The beautiful display curates the best orchid varieties in the city. 

The fashion-inspired theme is inspired by all things orchids with work by iconic fashion designers and upcoming sartorial artists like Hillary Taymour, Olivia Cheng, and Kristen Alpaugh who is taking a floral master class. Enjoy the after-dark outings at the orchid gardens after 7 pm with illuminated displays, music, and dance. 

You can purchase rare orchids in pots from the nurseries at the show and learn orchid care tips. 

With expert guidance, indulge in tulip art forms and sustainable design. The lessons include beautiful table and wall arrangements, floral designs for interiors, pottery, orchid workshops, and pruning basics.  

Carmel Limos offers a fleet of comfortable sedans, SUVs, and minivans for trips to the Bronx Botanical Garden. Our app allows you to hail a cab from anywhere in the city at affordable prices. 

Sustainable Dining on Earth Day

Eating out at one of the following restaurants on Earth Day helps reduce your footprint and enjoy sustainable dining. Local sourcing and menus designed around farm-to-table ingredients are central themes at the green restaurants in New York City. 

Sustainable restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn endeavor to reduce food wastage, minimize single-use plastic, and add greener options to their food and beverage themes. 

Blenheim

Seasonal cuisine and sustainable dining are the central themes of this environment-friendly restaurant in West Village. By sourcing ingredients from their farm in the Catskill Mountains, the restaurant serves fava bean falafel, chilled pickled farm vegetables, brisket burger, Blenheim cottage pie, chipotle chicken sandwich, timberman’s plate, chocolate cremeux, and Swedish princess genoise.

The Blenheim Hill Farm is where fresh produce is sourced, and free-roaming animals are bred. The hydroponic greenhouse grows fresh seasonal plants and vegetables for dining and farm events. 

Plastic-free packaging, service, and dining are the topmost priority at Blenheim Hill which is taking environmental accountability a notch higher. 

Rhodora Wine Bar

Have you ever heard of sustainable drinking? Rhodora Wine Bar is piloting this concept in New York, and its customers are loving it. The restaurant pledges to minimize its plastic usage and carbon footprint and upcycle its ingredients. Many New Yorkers applaud its ambition to become the first zero-waste wine restaurant. 

Moreover, the restaurant monitors the use of single-use plastic sent to landfills and implements water conservation daily. This bar’s wine, cheese, and seafood menu focuses on natural foods with zero tolerance for processed ingredients. 

You can enjoy delectables like spicy sardines, turmeric-pickled eggs, mackerel in olive oil, she-wolf bread, grilled cheese platter, and mushroom tartine. The extensive wine menu list includes concoctions like red, sparkling, pink, white, orange, and red wines. 

The list includes more than a hundred varieties of wine, including Grolleau Gris/Pineau d’Aunis, Tempranillo, Pinot Meunier/Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Ugni Blanc/Grenache Blanc, Chignin Bergeron, Picpoul, Sauvignon Blanc, Vermentino, Blaufränkisch/Zweigelt, Pineau d’Aunis, Merlot, Cinsault, Grenache Noir, and Cabernet Franc. Sip wines in reusable glasses and enjoy Earth Day through sustainable dining at Rhodora wine bar. 

Billion Oyster Project

This project strategizes collecting used oyster shells from restaurants and restoring them to the waters of New York Harbor. The harbor once housed two million acres of oyster reefs destroyed after cyclone Ida. The project helped install fourteen reef sites and collected 1.5 million pounds of oyster shells from more than seventy-five partner restaurants, including the following:

• 1 Brooklyn Bridge
• 1803
• Bar Belly
• Bar Crudo
• Burger and Lobster
• Casino
• The Clam
• Claudette
• Claw Daddy’s
• Coco Pizzeria
• Crave Fish bar
• Cull and Pistol
• Cut New York
• Docks Oyster Bar and Seafood Grill
• Eataly
• The Times Square Edition
• Estuary
• Fifty-Three
• Flex Mussels
• French Louie
• Gage and Tollner
• Grand Army
• Grand Banks
• Grand Central Oyster Bar and Grill
• Hawksmoor
• Iris Aegean
• Island Oyster
• Jams
• Jeffery’s Grocery
• Knick
• Le Crocodile
• La Marchande
• Lighthouse
• Littleneck
• Lobster Place
• Marea
• Maison Premiere
• Mothershuckers
• M Wells
• Oceana
• Park Slope Ale House
• Pebble Bar
• Per Se
• Pier 57
• Pilot 1924
• PG Clarke’s
• Raoul’s
• Riverpark
• Sea Wolf
• The Smith
• Stowaway café
• Strangeways
• Thomas Preti
• Veronika
• Watermark
• The Wilson

Dining at one of these restaurants ensures you give back to nature what is rightfully hers on Earth Day without the guilt. A Carmel Limo ride ensures an environment-friendly way to get to a restaurant without the hassles of cancellations or delays. 

Too Good to Go

Another innovation in sustainable eating is Too Good to Go, which focuses on reducing food waste by collecting excess food inventory at a lower price during closing time. The theme is to help customers find and reserve their food choices online to enjoy gourmet food, drinks, and baked items at lower rates. 

The organizers calculated food wastage as 2.8 billion tons and are concerned about items not selling on time. The food is sold in surprise bags (non-plastic) to customers at low prices. The company has sold over ten million food packages and partnered with over five thousand bakeries, four thousand restaurants, and two thousand supermarkets. 

Though challenging, this endeavor ensures food resource savings in the city. Reversing food shortage is as important as minimizing plastic bags, and that’s Too Good to Go’s vision for the next decade. 

Carmel Limos offers award-winning essential food delivery services in and around New York. When you book your food package with Too Good to Go, we ensure your food is delivered on time to your doorstep in sustainable packaging. Download our app to learn more.

Wrapping Up

New York is a bustling metropolis, but the city beats with an environment-conscious heart on Earth Day. On this momentous occasion, the air is filled with reminders of life without plastic and collective efforts in working together towards a sustainable future.

Environmental groups, sustainability advocates, and resilient movements join hands to advocate and educate children and adults about shunning plastic and saving green life. Carmel Limos New York City believes in positive dialog, low-impact transportation, and plastic-free navigation initiatives. 

Let’s come together to reduce our plastic footprint and make Earth Day 2024 special!