April 22 was Earth Day. This is a day that is set aside to remind us to think about our environment and the world around us. Earth Day may have originated in 1970 however, today there is still a strong movement taking place. Locally, Morrow County Recycling/Keep Morrow County Beautiful has committed to building environmental awareness each and every day.

Just as in 1970, when a 25-year-old graduate student, named Denis Hayes, organized the first Earth Day to bring attention to environmental crises, we are hoping that our efforts will eventually become a resounding success sparking a modern environmental movement in Morrow County.

This doesn’t mean that we all have to go to extreme measures, but making a few day-to-day small commitments can add up to measurable impacts.

You may know that in a one-year time frame, April 2018-2019; residents, clubs and businesses joined efforts to remove 14.9 TONS of litter from the backroads of Morrow County! There is still an abundance of litter in our ditches this year. COVID-19 may have us staying home and impacting the way we conduct our daily lives, but it has not stopped the litterbugs out and about in our community.

To help make Morrow County Beautiful, we need your help. We are looking for individuals and families who are willing to help clean up Morrow County this spring! This is a voluntary activity.

If you are interested in helping visit our website, www.MorrowCountyOhio.gov (go all the way to the bottom), and register. If you are unable to register, but still want to participate, report the amount of litter you collected contacting the Morrow County Recycling office at [email protected] or by calling the office at 419-946-6400.

We have all been encouraged to go outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Now is the time, to make the great outdoors beautiful once again and help Morrow County Recycling/Keep Morrow County Beautiful meet their activity goals for this year.

Earth Day also sheds light on environmental awareness. Just as schools were being shut down and the stay at home order was being put in place, Morrow County Recycling/Keep Morrow County Beautiful requested posters for our annual poster contest.

This year’s theme was Put Litter in Its Place! We are happy to announce this year’s winner is Evy Ahli, a third-grader at Park Avenue Elementary (Mount Gilead School District). Two honorable mentions are Brynn Waters, a second-grade student at Highland Elementary, and Mason Kirkpatrick, also a third-grader at Park Avenue Elementary.

We are also celebrating Earth Week by providing the community with a variety of environmental learning opportunities to participate in. Follow us on our Facebook pages Recycle Morrow County, Ohio and Keep Morrow County Beautiful.

How are you celebrating Earth Day? April 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Take a minute to think about what things have improved over the last 50 years and what things have notably become more of an environmental challenge. What can you do to help make the next 50 years better and to help Keep Morrow County Beautiful?

Pictured is the winning poster, hand-drawn and submitted by Evy Ahli a third-grade student at Park Avenue Elementary. She is the winner of the 2020 Put Litter in Its Place Poster Contest April 22 was Earth Day.
https://www.morrowcountysentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2020/04/web1_Earth-Day-Put-Litter-In-Its-Place-1.jpgPictured is the winning poster, hand-drawn and submitted by Evy Ahli a third-grade student at Park Avenue Elementary. She is the winner of the 2020 Put Litter in Its Place Poster Contest April 22 was Earth Day. Courtesy Photo

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