This week the Earth Day Initiative hosted its annual Earth Day New York Festival in Union Square, meant to inspire attendees to make increasingly environmentally-friendly choices. This year’s festival was a special edition of the event — the start of a year-long countdown to Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020. In addition to the dozens of exhibitors, including non-profits, green businesses, kids' activities, and live performances, the outdoor festival featured artists who created works of art — live and on-site — surrounding environmental themes that were inspired by the recent Green New Deal proposal. Among those featured was Molly Egan, a Philadelphia-based artist who, in anticipation of the art installation, said that her artwork depicts “people making more sustainable choices like recycling, composting, replacing plastic water bottles with reusable ones, and eating more environmentally friendly foods.” John Oppermann, Earth Day Initiative’s executive director, emphasized the importance of interactive events like Earth Day New York and noted how important the event has been since its founding in 1970: “That was a time when people really raised their voices and said, ‘We need to do something about these environmental issues.’ A lot of the safeguards we have in place today, we take for granted.” He added: “That is something we should keep in mind…when we see attacks on environmental protections we have now.”

When we found out it was both Earth Day and National High Five Day this week, we didn't know what to do. How could we honor both the earth and high fives in one post? We didn't think it was possible. We would have to pick. And then the other would be left out, which isn't fair. There's no way that we could possibly combine the two, we thought. Oh, okay, maybe if Joseph gives high fives to trees. Yep, totally works. For more (and probably better) ideas on honoring Earth Day the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation has some wonderful recommendations, including volunteering for the Bronx River Cleanup and participating in the Tree Giveaway in Brooklyn. As for high fives, well you can give those for charity. Everyone wins!