Go Green! Brooklyn returns to McCarren Park

The event featured art exhibitions, local businesses, exercise classes and, of course, an education in environment and sustainability discussing topics like transportation challenges in North Brooklyn and volunteer opportunities.

Thanks to partners Vice and Home Depot, a comfortable lounge in the shade was setup up just a stone’s throw from the live music performances.

On one side of McCarren Park, Town Square hosted a Greencycle Swap, where residents were encouraged to drop off unwanted items and take as many things as they want for a $5 donation. Unclaimed items are donated to local homeless shelter Clay Family Residence.

Susan Anderson of North Brooklyn nonprofit Town Square founded the Go Green! Greenpoint festival nine years ago as a chance to give everyone in the community an opportunity to enjoy an educational day in the park.

The name was changed to reflect the event’s growing popularity across the borough.

“We really wanted a community event where groups of all types, especially the green advocacy groups, would be able to come out and share what they’re doing with the residents and community in a way that’s fun,” she said. “This just draws so many people from all over now.

“We have almost 100 organizations and companies participating,” Anderson added. “We have over 80 physically here in the park now offering activities, exhibiting, vending.”

Assemblyman Joe Lentol was one of the hundreds to stop by the festival.

“A beautiful festival, a beautiful day, how can we do better than this?” he asked. “It’s not only ‘go green,’ we’ve gone green today.”

Anderson said the event is vital to the community of Greenpoint, and that it’s important that not only adults stay informed, but also that children in the neighborhood get a chance to learn about some of the ecological and environmental challenges that Greenpoint faces.

“It’s always been a mixture of industrial and residential, but we have the history of the oil spill and we have the history of Newtown Creek, which is now a superfund site,” she said.