This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Earth Day Means a Lot to Huntington

The Town of Huntington will celebrate Earth Day this Saturday, April 20, with the Family Earth Day Expo Councilman Mark Cuthbertson and I sponsor every year in the Town Hall parking lot.

The Expo highlights different steps we all can take to save energy and preserve the environment. But as much as the event is a demonstration of what we can do, it also celebrates what the Town and our residents are already doing to improve our environment.

For a number of years, the Town has been accepting electronic waste at the town’s Recycling Center at 641 New York Avenue, and last year residents delivered 162 tons of e-waste, including televisions, computers, printers, cell phones, modems and other computer peripherals.

Those are pretty heady numbers, but I knew we could do even better if we made it easier for residents to recycle e-waste. In early February, I ordered our Environmental Waste Management Department to begin curbside e-waste pickup. Residents call 351-3239 and make an appointment; the Department will give them a date on which they put their e-waste out at the curb.

Since we began the program, we have averaged about 14 pickups a week, with televisions making up about 70 percent what we have collected. The Town is on pace to increase e-waste collection by more than 10 percent.

This, by the way, is not only a convenience for Town residents, it’s a money-saver as well. I heard a radio advertisement the other day for a company offering to take that old TV off your hands for $29.95. The Town does it for no charge.

E-cycling will be one of the many activities featured at Saturday’s Expo, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I invite you to bring the whole family to see the Green Showcase, with demonstrations on solar energy and organic gardening and fun activities for the kids. Children will be able to learn how compost is made and plant a seed in a recycled pot.

Cornell Cooperative Extension will be on hand to provide children of all ages the opportunity to touch and experience a variety of sea specimens in their marine life touch tank, as they demonstrate the importance of protecting our precious marine environment.

The popular touch a truck event is back by popular demand, as is the opportunity to shred unwanted documents with Safety Shred, one of the largest leaders in on-site destruction (there is a three banker-box limit per person).

Covanta, the major sponsor of the Expo, will be co-sponsoring a rechargeable battery collection program with Call2Recycle. Trader Joe’s of Commack is offering a free eco-friendly reusable tote bag to the first 200 residents to trade in a plastic grocery bag.

Boaters can dispose of shrink-wrap at the Expo. They can also bring the plastic to the Recycling Center between now and Memorial Day.

So here’s wishing you a Happy Earth Day and hoping we think about our environment not just now, but throughout the year.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?