Keep Sidney Beautiful has events planned

Earth Day is on Monday, April 22. Although there are no specific Earth Day activities planned for the city, it’s still easy to be green in Sidney.

The president of Keep Sidney Beautiful, Cheryl Jones, explains that the month of April has been Cash for Cans in schools. This program promotes recycling, while funds collected benefit the Sidney Public School Booster Clubs. The mission of the Cans for Cash Campaign is to help build a green, sustainable community and increase resident awareness of recycling.

On May 1, there will be an all-day event called the Groundwater Festival. Several organizations will come and go and educate children about how various things affect groundwater.

On May 4, residents of Sidney are invited to participate in the Great Trash Race. The staff members at the Sidney Sun Telegraph are not only covering the event but are also participating in the race.

November 15 is designated as America Recycles Day nationwide. Keep Sidney Beautiful sponsors the city wide event that collects pledge cards from local businesses and residents to commit to recycling on a daily basis.

Local businesses take part in their own way. As part of the efforts to cut down on waste, for example, the Coffee and Book Corner is running a special on reusable mugs. If you purchase one of these mugs, your first refill is free and consecutive drinks will be 50 cents off of specialty drinks and 25 cents off of house coffee.

According to Jones, the Keep Sidney Beautiful Foundation has various things that they must do year-round to keep up the standards to stay in the Presidential Circle of the Keep America Beautiful Foundation.

Jones added that Nebraska has 22 affiliates of Keep America Beautiful statewide, with six of those affiliates in the panhandle; compared to South Dakota’s two, Montana’s one and none in Wyoming.

Jones said that Keep Nebraska Beautiful is one of six Diamond Award recipients (the highest level) in the United States. She also said that Keep Nebraska Beautiful does outstanding work in their efforts to promote recycling.

The residents of Sidney are encouraged to take part in all of the year-round efforts to Keep Sidney Beautiful and to recycle for a better environment tomorrow.