Long Beach celebrates Earth Day

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The city of Long Beach celebrated Earth Day with a series of educational events and volunteer initiatives last Sunday.

First was the Green Run, a fun run for kids and adults along the boardwalk, from Riverside Boulevard to Laurelton Boulevard. The Long Beach Children’s Runner’s Club, for kids ages 7 to 15, came out in force to participate in the event.

Additionally, the Long Island Volunteer Center and Americorps organized a bay cleanup. Cleaning supplies were donated by Home Depot in Freeport. Volunteers met at Riverside Boulevard and Park Place, and walked along the bay clearing trash and debris from the waterfront.

The Long Beach Farmer’s market hosted an outdoor gardening workshop on the boardwalk.

The city’s Youth and Family Services also hosted Green CORE, Creative Opportunities and Recycling Education, which provided kids with environmentally friendly activities like planting, sidewalk chalk drawing, and a showing of the movie, “The Lorax.”

The Town of Hempstead was also on hand to educate residents about its Stop Throwing Out Pollutants program, designed to provide residents with a safe, environmentally sound method of disposing hazardous materials found in the average home — like antifreeze, drain cleaners and pesticides — in order to the protect the groundwater supply and preserve local waterways.