With Earth Day right around the corner, you might find yourself thinking “what can I do to show that I care about the future of our planet?” In Lewisburg, you will have two opportunities this month to learn how you can make a difference in our community; an Earth Day Celebration and a Safe Water event. The Lewisburg Green Team and LBSPY are hosting an Earth Day Celebration at the Wild Bean in downtown Lewisburg on April 23 from 1-3pm. The event will feature a Recycled Art Competition where children and adults design a piece of art made from recycled materials with the theme of “human”. Bring your art to the event for a chance to win! The winners in each age group will receive a prize.

While the creations are being voted on by a panel of judges, Green Team members will read the environmentally themed children’s book “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss. Following story time, we will see how our gasoline addiction is affecting air quality with a Dirty Sock Contest. Each contestant will place a clean white sock on their car’s tail pipe and run their engine for a period of time. At the end of that time period the owner of the dirtiest sock wins an oil change at Simm’s Exxon. Registration for the recycled art competition is free and you can enter from 12-1pm on the day of the event or online at LewisburgGreenTeam.org

On Saturday, April 30 from 5pm-7pm, West Virginia Rivers Coalition is hosting a Safe Water Public Forum at the Greenbrier Valley Visitor’s Center. The event gives the public an opportunity to learn about the City of Lewisburg’s plan to protect your drinking water.

After the 2014 water crisis in Charleston, a law was passed that required water providers across the state to submit “Source Water Protection Plans” by July of this year. These important documents explain how the utilities plan to protect water supplies now and in the future. A key component of the plans is to get input from the public. Seeing a need to educate the public on what’s required in the plans, West Virginia Rivers Coalition created a Citizen’s Guide to Drinking Water Protection. All attendees of the event will receive a free copy. The consultant writing Lewisburg’s plan will be on-hand to explain the plan and answer any questions. This event also features games, kid’s activities, food, and door prizes. For more information visit wvrivers.org.

This event is hosted by The Lewisburg Green Team and LBSPY. For more information about the Green Team, visit: LewisburgGreenTeam.org
Featured photo by Jenny Harnish with Greenbrier Images.

– Autumn Leah Bryson. LBSPY #76. April 2016.