In honor of Earth Day, the Empire State Building is going dark at 9 p.m. tonight. However, the gesture will be purely symbolic, as the lights are only going out for one minute. If you get up to re-heat dinner in the microwave (energy hog!), you'll miss the blink on-and-off of the building's lights, which are currently green to symbolize Earth Day. The lights will remain green tomorrow as well, but for a slightly less noble reason.

Happy Earth Day! Time to jump on the bandwagon and make a couple of conscientious decisions that will make up for the fact that you're a lazy, meat-eating oaf who leaves the water running whilst brushing his teeth the other 364 days of the year. So where to begin? By now you’ve already googled "eco-chic" and "organic" and it’s left you hopelessly confused! All of these certifications and standards -- it feels like someone is pulling the eco-friendly wool over your eyes. So let's make this easy. Here’s a short list of GRA-certified New York restaurants that will shrink the size of your size-13 carbon footprint today. These restos are certified green, and like Kermit once said, it ain’t easy. Once joining the GRA program, restaurants must use a comprehensive recycling program, must never use Styrofoam products, and complete four "Environmental Steps" a year, like using biodegradable or tree-free products and energy-efficient lighting.

● Dirt Candy (East Village) - It just sounds healthy, doesn’t it?
● Vento Trattoria (Meatpacking District) - Modelized girls dining here are more into their stilettos than Mother Earth, but what they don't know won't hurt 'em, unless the planet blows up.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, apparently. As such, what better way to spend an afternoon than cleaning up grafittied walls around the country? Benefit "Team Erase Paste," from the makers of anti-wrinkle goo, will be held at Skateboard Park under the Brooklyn Bridge. The same cleansing rituals will take place in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We're not exactly sure how this is supposed to fix our shitty ozone, but it's a feel-goody face-lift, and our latex gloves will be there all the same.