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Drum offers eco-friendly events for Earth Day

Fort Drum, N.Y., is going green for Earth Day with a variety of outdoor events scheduled for Friday.

The public is invited to the festivities, which begin at 10 a.m. at Remington Pond.

Along with static environmental displays, talks and tours, events include bird watching, counting and identifying fish, discovering wetlands, forest walks, kids crafts projects, worm composting displays and home energy efficiency, according to an Army news release.

A visit from some selected animals from the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown also is in store.

This year’s Earth Day observation is sponsored by the Fort Drum Public Works Environmental Division; Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation; and Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes.

The theme of this year’s U.S. Army Earth Day is “Sustaining the Environment for a Secure Future.”

Fort Drum’s Public Works Environmental Division offered a few ideas for conserving the environment:

• Use water responsibly.

• Walk or ride a bicycle when possible, or car pool to work.

• Reuse shopping bags.

• Consider packaging when buying goods, and find ways to reuse or recycle them.

• Keep a compost pile as fertilizer to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.

• Save electricity by using energy-efficient light bulbs and turning off lights. Also unplug electronic items not in use, including chargers.