Fun Earth Day event scheduled

To celebrate Earth Day, the city of Green River is hosting an environmental celebration.

On Friday, residents are encouraged to stop by Expedition Island and the pavilion between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for the Earth Day celebration. This year’s theme is “living green is second nature” and those having booths at the event are encouraged to follow this theme in some way.

Erin Mahoney, AmeriCorps volunteer with the city, said they are excited to have new and returning businesses hosting educational booths at the event.

“We have so many booths this year,” Mahoney said. “Each organization is taking the theme and making a booth around it.”

Even though all of the booths are indoors, the city plans to host some kids unplugged games, including hula hoop, golf frisbee, jump rope and some made up recycling games outside, Mahoney said.

“Currently, the weather is not looking great,” Mahoney said. “The event will go on rain or shine.”

Mahoney said if the weather is bad, all of the outdoor events will just be moved inside since there is enough room in the pavilion for everything.

“We’re hoping to have it inside and outside if the weather holds up,” she said.

One item the children might enjoy playing on and seeing is an upscaled seesaw, which has been made out of old tires.

The event is designed to give residents and children ideas on how to repurpose or upscale something. Mahoney said about 550 elementary school students are already lined up to attend the event and one of the booths they are going to visit is the upscaling a T-shirt booth. The students and other booth visitors are encouraged to bring a clean, old T-shirt and learn how to repurpose it into a shopping bag. She said they will also learn how old T-shirts can be repurposed into other items such as pillow-case covers or artwork for the wall.

Those who want to see their work come to life will definitely want to stop by the seed strips booth. At this booth, students, children and residents will have the chance to make a seed strip using flower seeds, a piece of newspaper and a flour mixture. They can then take the seed strip home and plant it in a garden or pot. The paper will degrade and plants will come up from the seeds.

“It will just be a real fun event for the community to interact with local businesses,” Mahoney said.

Residents who would like information about recycling and other important tips can make their way through the various booths. For example: the city’s utility division will have a booth on about what one can and cannot put down a drain or toilet, she said.

Representatives from the solid waste and landfill division will not only be on hand to answer any questions about recycling, but they can talk about how the new transfer station will impact the community its recycling. Mahoney said the recycling department is going to have some bales of recycled material on hand for residents to see.

The Sweetwater County Library is going to have a wind tunnel to show the attendees how wind can make trash fly all over in a very short period of time. Mahoney said they talked about using litter and how Wyoming wind as an example of how trash can be carried for miles and miles.

“It’s a great opportunity for the community to learn,” she said.