The Green Apple

Photo credit: Urbanite

Patches, colored with eco-friendly paint, will become part of a massive mural with an environmental message. (Photos by Kathleen Bulson)

Using square patches of canvas and eco-friendly milk paint, New Yorkers in Central Park Sunday painted their own small visions for a greener world.

Organizers hoped to take the patches and create the longest and largest "eco-mural" in the world.

Adam Jordan, 27, of Nyack, who founded the group behind the project, PeaceXpiece, said the artwork is symbolic of the little things people need to do every day to help the environment.

“Every little piece makes a difference,” he said. The group, working with Rely Records and modern artist Paul Kostabi, hopes the mural will end up In a New York City museum this summer.

The mural was part of the Green Apple Festival, billed as America’s largest Earth Day celebration. Events were held in eight U.S. cities. In the Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, there were live bands, organic-food vendors, environmental speakers and exhibits. Some participants took what they called an Earth Day ride -- they used their bikes to get to the park -- to promote alternative transportation.Ruth Klein, 63, of Rego Park, Queens, sold environmental buttons she designed outside the festival. The artist likened her buttons — emblazoned with pictures of the Earth, peace signs, animals and the sun—to human bumper stickers. A sign above them promotes her philosophy: “Ignore the planet and it’ll go away.”

The festivities, however, are not going away. Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day, and more events are planned throughout the city. They include:

* Earth Day New York (EDNY), a nonprofit organization promoting year-round environmental awareness, is holding its seventh annual Earth Week celebration at Grand Central Terminal. Giant Earth Images, projections of earth-themed artwork from artists, including Andy Warhol, are on display on the two pillars of the main concourse.

* EarthNight, also sponsored by EDNY and Green Drinks, a social-networking group for environmental enthusiasts, is hosting an eco-fashion show and party. The Park, a restaurant/lounge at 118 10th Ave. at West 18th Street, will host the event from 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday. The entrance fee is $10.

* Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is hosting Earth Week at the Audubon Center. Tuesday’s advocacy theme has an Earth Day Pledge from 1 to 4 p.m., where attendees learn about the three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) before making a pledge to help the environment. From 2 to 4 p.m., advocacy buttons can be created.

* Team Erase Paste, who work for Benefit Cosmetics, will volunteer their time Tuesday to clean up parks across the nation. In New York, the volunteers will paint over graffiti at Skateboard Park, under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

* Replay, a clothing store in at 109 Prince St. in SoHo, will host a free Earth Day concert with musician Ben Jelen, whose work is featured on the popular TV shows "One Tree Hill" and "Smallville." Replay will donate 10 percent of store proceeds from this week's sales will benefit the Ben Jelen Foundation, designed to improve environmental awareness globally.

* Muse on Earth will take a spiritual look at Earth Day with mediation and art projects, such as creating birdhouses and creating a group painting. The event runs from 6 to 9 pm Tuesday at Manhattan’s Creative Pier (833 Broadway at 13th Street, third floor), an art gallery promoting inspiration and tranquility through the self.

* Students at Columbia University have organized a free exchange of old incandescent light bulbs for new energy-efficient ones. Thousands of the old bulbs will be placed in bins outside Low Library Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.

-- Kathleen Bulson

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