Earth Day is HERE, and celebrating the world we live in can come in many different forms and activities. Buying sustainable products, engaging in community clean-ups, and being mindful about the energy we consume are all ways to have a conscious Earth Day. There are many ways to celebrate and engage within the community and give back to the community in various ways. From apps to local businesses, we’ve got you covered on how to be eco-friendly and socially conscious when it comes to our environment. Read on for a list of ways to celebrate Earth Day and a guide to eco-friendly businesses to support in North Jersey.
Local Happenings
Be good to the earth and get to know the community with activities organized by the county, or join a group and help clean up the earth by tracking it on an app.
Attend the Hudson County Earth Day Event
On April 24, Hudson County will be hosting an event in Lincoln Park, near the Westside entrance, from 11AM to 3PM. This year’s theme is “Bringing Hudson County Together,” and keeps the 30-year tradition of celebrating Earth Day alive while maintaining social distancing rules.
Celebrate With Essex County’s Environmental Center
Essex County’s 10th Annual Earth Day Celebration takes place at the Essex County Environmental Center, located at 621B Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland. The free event will boast crafts, games, and outdoor activities like canoeing and hiking, as well as a local eco-vendors’ sale.
Check out the Wild & Scenic Film Festival
A percent of the proceeds for this virtual film festival will go to Team Wilderness in Jersey City, which helps underprivileged youth get outside through wilderness excursions. The weekend-long event takes place on April 24 and 25 and aims to inspire environmental activism and a love of nature through film. Ways to stream the festival or host your own event also include options that support local, environmentally-friendly restaurants.
Plant Seeds on the Summit Park Line
This free event allows people to plant seeds in the butterfly garden, have professional photos taken, and enter giveaways from local businesses. All of the giveaways are environmentally friendly, and many support local businesses.
Track Your Clean Up on Litterati
Brands like Avocado Green Mattress are using Litterati–available on both Android and Apple devices–to gather groups to track the litter they pick up. This allows the app to measure the shared impact the litter pick-up has on the earth. Join the Avocado Green Brands Earth Month Cleanup by using the code AVOFRIENDS and collect litter anytime before April 30, or join your own group with friends and family.
View the Hoboken Historical Museum’s Film Festival
In partnership with the Thomas Edison Film Festival, the Hoboken Historical Museum is running an Earth Day Film Festival from April 22 to 30. The event is a free, on-demand streamed celebration of Earth Day that includes several short films, including a conversation with award-winning filmmaker Otto Bell.
Read More: A List of Dog-Friendly Places in Hoboken
Eco-Friendly Businesses
Restaurants
Eco-friendly food spots are aplenty in Hoboken and Jersey City–with many restaurants now employing green practices. Below are just a few restaurants that either raise money for a cause dedicated to the earth, employ eco-friendly containers, or sell items that are environmentally sound.
Alfalfa {1110 Washington Street, Hoboken}
{Photo credit: @eatalfalfa}
This eatery serves locally roasted, fair-trade coffee, and uses fresh, local ingredients for their recipes, and uses earth-safe containers for takeout. Free-range chicken broth and other plant-based options are available for dining in our taking out.
Black Rail Coffee {800 Jackson Street, Hoboken}
{Photo credit: @blackrailcoffee}
Using fair-trade, ethically sourced coffee beans, this locally-owned shop offers up a list of coffees from Mexico and Ethiopia, as well as a food menu with homemade, unique ingredients.
bwe Kafe {1002 Washington Street + 1401 Adams Street, Hoboken}
{Photo credit: @bwekafe}
This local family-run coffee shop operates with the mantra “Beans. Beliefs. Bucks.” that helps guide their activities–they sell coffee and other sustainable goods in order to raise money for charitable causes while staying true to the earth.
Bone-In Food {Online}
Bone-In Food is a weekly food delivery service that promotes wellness education through its offerings. The company provides only sustainable and nutrient-dense options, be it produce, ingredients, or prepared items, sourced from local farm partners and delivered to the front door.
ClimateAbility {Hoboken}
ClimateAbility specializes in all things sustainability with a heavy focus on Climate Change in particular. The company works with clients who believe that their carbon emissions are their problem and are resolved to owning the solution and fixing it themselves. ClimateAbility accurately calculates their emissions and then designs specific removal initiatives for them to work towards and report on as part of our wider service offering.
Hudson Greene Market {77 Hudson Street, Jersey City}
This grocery store offers ready-made food and grocery with organic, natural, and fresh ingredients.
Java Love {244 Bellevue Avenue + 49 Church Street, Montclair}
{Photo credit: @doyoujavalove}
All the coffee is either organic and/or sustainably farmed, fair trade, or rainforest alliance-certified, which means the best of the best. Java Love also has great seasonal specialty drinks as well as both sweet and savory baked goods.
Juice Basin {336 Second Street, Jersey City}
With locations in Jersey City and Asbury Park, this juicery offers organic concoctions and snacks that are good for the body and soul. Their practices include organic composting and good-for-the-earth gardening to help the business give back.
Lucky Honey Bee {487 Palisade Avenue}
{Photo credit: @theluckyhoneybee}
Lucky HoneyBee specializes in scented candles, all-natural soaps, and apothecary products using sustainable resources and eco-friendly packaging. Customers can get refills on hand and dish soap as well as purchase sustainably-made products.
Organic Basic Food {204 Washington Street, Hoboken}
A one-stop-shop for healthy, organic goods, Organic Basic Food offers a variety of organic and sustainable products, from vitamins and supplements to eco-friendly home and cleaning products.
Beauty Shops
Through the use of green and sustainable products, clean beauty, and recycling practices, these businesses make sure that looking good can also be good to the earth.
Lorraine’s House of Styles {160 1st Street, Hoboken}
Sustainable practices are at the heart of this hair salon. The business offers sustainable products and recycles and repurposes all of the salon’s waste to turn it into energy or bio-plastic.
Makeup Artist Mama {Online}
Amy Spiegel only uses clean beauty products to do hair and makeup looks and sells the products she uses through BeautyCounter.
Payaru {Online}
Guilt-free skincare is the name of the game with this company. The products are all-natural, simple, and ocean-friendly, as well as thoughtfully sourced. A part of the company’s profits is also donated to sustainable charities.
The Salon at Hoboken {600 Harrison Street, Hoboken}
This modern concept salon offers organic options for services, as well as a green approach to beauty and living in Hudson County. The salon also has a selection of promotions to celebrate Earth Day, including a tote bag and discounts for recycling products.
Home
From laundry to home care to home products, each of these selected North Jersey businesses uses green practices or offers green products to help residents of North Jersey reduce their carbon footprint.
Avocado Green Mattress {12 Hudson Place, Suite 100, Hoboken}
These natural, organic mattresses are handmade in California with ingredients from the company’s own farms. In addition to the mattresses, bedding, pillows and other furniture is also available.
Dry Goods Refillery {193 Bellevue Avenue, Montclair + 1875 Springfield Avenue, Maplewood}
This eco-friendly shop’s mission is to bring package-free shopping to the community. The team works with eco-conscious companies who work to push the mission of sustainability and partner with brands that give back to the planet, promote carbon neutrality, and focus on their efforts to make a difference through fair trade practices, small family organic farming, and electric delivery vehicles.
JC EcoLaundry {340 Second Street, Jersey City}
This company uses eco-friendly products for wash and fold and organic dry-cleaning, and also offers a self-serve option with eco-friendly washing and drying machines.
Matter of Earth {221 River Street, 9th Floor, Hoboken}
This company aims to strengthen the natural environment and offers consulting, design, and management for gardens and other sites. Lectures and presentations are also available.
My Conscience, My Choice {Online}
This website offers eco-friendly alternatives to everyday products, from coffee to animal products to skincare. The site aims to help people switch to products that are better for humanity and for the environment.
UNJUMBOLD {257 1st Street, Hoboken}
UNJUMBOLD places emphasis on fair trade and local vendors. Many products sold help to eliminate single-use products and use environmentally-friendly materials.
VepoClean {Online}
This cleaning service offers an eco-friendly option for carpet cleaning, dust mite collection, bathroom cleaning, and more. The process and products are all environmentally friendly, but the company has a welcome call with each of their clients to go over specific needs and desires.
Clothing + Accessories
Thrifting gives clothing a new life and helps reduce the amount of waste produced. In Hoboken and Jersey City, there’s a huge selection of vintage stores to shop and, as an added bonus, a clothing store for children that only sells sustainable goodies.
Ally Bird Vintage {408 6th Street, Hoboken}
Thursdays through Sundays, Ally Bird Vintage sets up shop on Sixth Street to offer up a selection of pre-loved items and also sets up warehouse visits in Jersey City by appointment. The shop also has two other locations in Brooklyn throughout the week.
Culture Couture {53 Church Street, Montclair}
The mission of this boutique is to introduce affordable and quality products from a variety of countries to our community and to set an example to business and the government of a Fair Trade model of business based on partnership, people-centered values, and sustainability.
Mint Market {303 1st Street, Hoboken + 339 Grove Street, Jersey City}
Shopping vintage is a sustainable practice because it reduces waste, giving garments a new life instead of sending them to the trash. Mint Market has a selection of vintage designer clothes available on their website, in-store in Jersey City, or through Etsy.
Find + Revive
Started by two Latinx ‘90s babies in Jersey City, this online shop offers vintage clothing at affordable prices.
Hazel Baby + Kids {199 Montgomery Street + 17 McWilliams Place, Jersey City}
Owners Donovan and Elizabeth Cain offer products made in a socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and sustainable way, whether it be toys, clothing, accessories, or nursery items.
PlusThriftJC {Online}
Quality, style, inclusivity, and sustainability are the drivers behind this Instagram shop, curated by two Jersey City locals. This small business focuses on selling plus-size thrift pieces for Jersey City and the world.
ReLovely {Online}
Started in Jersey City, this website sells pre-loved garments from influencers on the platform, giving each chic garment a new life.
Vintage on First {257 1st Street, Hoboken}
Each garment is selected with a purpose at this vintage shop. The carefully curated offerings include dresses, tops, pants, and more.
