Earth Fest in The South Bronx

April 25Th 2009, from 12 to 4pm plenty of people showed up for the 2ND Annual "South Bronx Earth Fest". YMPJ was in attendance promoting a new public park called Concrete Plant Park that will be opening this July. This park- located along the banks of the Bronx River- has been in the making for almost 10 years and we are excited for its long-awaited opening! People came out to enjoy the celebration of the Environment and the South Bronx Community.

There was plenty of food and drinks to refresh all of the South Bronx supporters. While enjoying refreshments there were also privileged to listen to the "Music Gets Me Green" contest which was pleasant, along with 30 other activities booths to participate in.

Another highlight of the day was when tress were planted by our very own Steve and Andre who also had help from some of the many guest who participated in the South Bronx Fest. People also brought in their old electronics such as televisions, old cell phones, cameras, printers and computers to recycled.

Extreme Weather: So up, so down!

Superbowl Sunday kicked off the month of February with unseasonably high temperatures- in the 50s- only to be followed by chilling snowstorms and frigid weather by Wednesday. Today is Friday and the forecast is saying temperatures in the 50s for tomorrow! Are these normal changes in weather or is it possible that these extreme weather fluctuations are a result of climate change? Climate change, in this case, refers to the idea that man-made activities are contributing too much carbon dioxide and other global warming gases to the atmosphere resulting in changes to our world's climate patterns. YMPJ staff and youth attended a conference hosted by WEACT (of Harlem) entitled "Advancing Climate Justice". I got to attend discussions on food justice and "green jobs". To find out more about activities and conversations from the conference, check out their blog at http://advancingclimatejustice.blogspot.com/