Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender announced that Saturday, April 26, from 1 to 5 p.m., (rain date of the following Sunday, April 27) will be 'Clean the Plaza' Day in recognition of the 33rd annual observance of Earth Day (April 22 this year). Mayor Celender stated that her Village's Department of Public Works does an admirable job cleaning our streets and sidewalks, but the downtown area just accumulates a great deal of trash and litter daily, and we want to highlight the issue of properly discarding wastes and helping to maintain our environment. The Village has had programs to bring greater public awareness of this issue, such as its poster contest a few years ago called "Just Trash It," which encouraged people to discard waste in appropriate trash receptacles.

On April 26, supervised by high school students from the Key Club, students will participate with other individuals and groups who are invited to "pitch in" and help jump start our annual spring cleaning. 'Clean the Plaza' is being coordinated by the Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor's Office and the Public Works Department.

Any school, temple, church, youth or civic group that would like to participate in the clean-up event can enroll by contacting the Mayor's Assistant, Carol Teplin at 482-4500 or by visiting the website at www.greatneckplaza.net. Registered participants can pick up trash bags and gloves at Village Hall and will be assigned sectors of the village to clean. All who participate in the Earth Day clean-up will receive specially designed T-shirts for the day.

Mayor Celender would like to thank Jane Levy, president of Great Neck South High School's Key Club for its participation and joining her on Plaza Earth Day in being more environmentally conscience, energy efficient and for encouraging others to do the same. Mayor Celender remarked, "Everyone can help protect the planet with small steps to save energy and reduce/recycle waste. And the easy part is you don't even need to leave your home to help," she said.

For Earth Day observance, here are some of the simple things anyone can do:

* Check the setting on your refrigerator. The fridge should be 38-42 degrees, and the freezer should be 0-5 degrees. If settings are 10 degrees too cold, your energy bill will be 25 percent higher.

* Set your water heater on "low." At about 120 degrees, it is more than adequate to meet all home uses.

* Look for the Energy Star label. On home appliances, office equipment, and other items, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy award the Energy Star Label to products that are energy efficient.

* Use a low-flow, energy-efficient showerhead. It saves 27 cents a day on water and 51 cents on electricity. At that rate, the showerhead pays for itself in just two months.

* Dispose of chemicals like paints and cleaners properly. Paints, solvents, pesticides, wood finishers, and non-biodegradable household cleaners are chemicals that, if disposed of improperly, can seep into the ground or enter the water supply.

* Save energy at the office. Many office machines now have energy-saving standby modes and new fluorescent light bulbs use less energy. Putting sensors on lights use less electricity when unoccupied rooms are not illuminated.

* Incorporate environmental cost accounting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides information, software and support to businesses to make sound environmentally conscious and economically effective business decisions.

* Encourage employees to take alternative transportation to work. Start a carpool bulletin board. Make a bicycle shelter available. Offer employee discounts on bus, subway, or train passes. Whenever giving directions to visitors to your office, include mass transit options.

* Create a contest. Solicit ideas from your staff about ways to make your business more eco-friendly and reward the best ideas with prizes.

* Use less paper. Adopting paper-saving strategies is one of the easiest first steps toward a sustainable office. Many suggestions are available at www.greenbiz.com.