Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Keep America Beautiful!

April 22nd is Earth day and you can help the earth today by contributing to the reduction in harmful pollutants. There are many ways you can celebrate Earth day with your family and friends this year, all it takes is a little organization and teamwork. First, if you contact your city they can provide you with the tools you need to keep America beautiful. They can direct you to any local groups that spend time eliminating eyesores and improve the environment by cleaning up areas that are overrun by litter.

Keep America Beautiful is now hosting its annual great American clean up which runs from March to May. Even if you miss the great American clean up event there are ways you can help keep America beautiful every day. You and your family can pick up litter when you see it and keep a bag in your car so you can gather the garbage effectively. You can also start recycling just contact your local trash collection agency to find out how to get a recycling bin. You can recycle glass, plastic and paper by following the instructions given to you by the collection agency. You can cut down on your waste by recycling old soda cans by turning them into cash at your local grocery store. They will refund you the five-cent deposit for every can you return. When you start doing your spring-cleaning this year and you want to throw away your old clothes you can donate them. Many organizations and shelters are in need of gently used clothing.

You can organize a drive at your job or child's school to collect cans, paper and other recyclables. What your school can do with the funds collected from cans? Well one school in Binghamton, New York created its own fitness center from all the cans their gym teacher found around the county.

You can also be a help to the city by just reporting graffiti to the local authorities. You can gather people from the neighborhood to paint over the spray paintings and create a community mural.

You can start a trash-fishing contest in your local waterways to educate and raise awareness about illegal dumping and littering. Ask local businesses to sponsor the event you can contact your local television news station to get the word out. You can contact newspapers and schools in the area to find participants for the fishing contest. Any money raise can be used to create a green space by planting trees and shrubbery in part of the city that needs improvement or use it to fix up a park with safer playground equipment.