(LEX 18) — April 22 is Earth Day!
There are several events happening Friday and Saturday around central Kentucky to celebrate Earth Day.
Bluegrass Green Source is hosting a community-led litter clean sweep in participating cities, including in Lexington on Innovation Drive from 12-2 p.m. Friday.
Other clean sweeps are happening in Winchester at 11 a.m. Friday; River View Park in Frankfort at 11:30 a.m. Friday; Harrodsburg at 2 p.m. Friday; and downtown Cynthiana at 5:30 p.m. Friday; and Main Street Park in Mount Sterling from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Kentucky Utilities is giving away 1,500 witch hazel seedlings around the state Friday. The company said witch hazel grows to height that will prevent the limbs from hitting power lines.
Lexington is hosting a Household Hazardous Waste event Saturday to make sure people can properly dispose of waste like paints, batteries, and more.
Even if you can't make it to any of these events, there are 364 other days out of the year to be Earth conscious in your everyday life by reducing water use, turning off lights, recycling, and so much more.
Earth Day was first observed in 1970 when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural events at tens of thousands of sites across the United States.
Senator Gaylord Nelson promoted Earth Day, calling upon students to fight for environmental causes and oppose environmental degradation. The celebrations and public support helped push for the creation of the environmental protection agency, which was authorized by Congress in December of that same year. The agency aimed to tackle environmental issues and create regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
