By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER MANHATTAN — Northern Manhattan is going green this weekend with an Earth Day event that uses fun activities to teach residents about the environment.
Kids and adults can enjoy a buffet of eco-friendly fun at the second annual "Earth Day Extravaganza," sponsored by the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood. The day includes a live performance about the rain forest by the Central Park Zoo's Wildlife Theater and a tour of a hybrid car accompanied by an explanation of how it works.
Budget fashionistas can also swap lightly used clothing for new-to-them duds, while farming and gardening types can help plant the Y's rooftop garden and learn about its new composting program.
Elected officials and 19 community organizations have been invited to participate in the event and present information about their local projects and missions.
The free event is co-sponsored by the Go Green initiative of the Office of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who was born and raised in Inwood.
According to the borough president's office, the initiative is a collaboration of residents and local civic and business leaders working together to "help reverse decades of environmental injustice and degradation in neighborhoods…where environmental disparities have been most acute."
The Go Green event first kicked off in East Harlem in 2007, and was expanded to Washington Heights and Inwood in 2009.
Shara Perlman, director of youth, family and camping services at the Y, said the event is a fun opportunity for kids and families to learn more about the environment.
"Not everyone is as educated as we could be on how to be green," she said. "We hope to teach people how to do everything they can to make a greener planet."
The "Earth Day Extravaganza" takes place Sunday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood at 54 Nagle Avenue, between Elwood Street and Broadway.
