This spring’s Earth Day New York, in Union Square, will launch a yearlong countdown to the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020. This landmark anniversary will attract visibility and attention that organizers hope to channel into “doing real and impactful good,” especially as people seem more eager than ever to move environmental policies in a positive direction. 

“The idea of a Green New Deal has captured so much attention because people want to see solutions to our most pressing problems,” says John Oppermann, executive director of Earth Day Initiative. “So for the 50th-anniversary countdown, we will provide simple solutions and empower people to give shape to the solutions that they see and that they want to see in their own lives and communities right now.”  

The Earth Day events in Union Square are the highest traffic \Earth Day events in the country, he says. This spring, Earth Day Initiative will use the platform to launch “a year-long countdown of empowerment,” beginning with a live art installation featuring multiple artists creating large-scale paintings and illustrations around the four pillars of the Green New Deal: green jobs, greening existing buildings, a green transportation system and a guaranteed job for every American.   

An action center will be onsite telling people about simple actions they can take to make a positive environmental impact, and encouraging them to submit their own ideas around sustainability solutions they see or would like to see in their own communities.  

For more information, visit:http://www.earthdayinitiative.org/dojust1thing