As the spring rains make way for sunny skies, lush foliage and beautiful flowers, many of us are looking for ways to spend more time with friends and more time outdoors. With Earth Day — Friday, April 22 — around the corner, why not celebrate it by spending some time outdoors with good company caring for the planet and the community?

There are plenty of upcoming opportunities for anyone interested to show their love for our environment, according to the Clinton County Solid Waste management District.

The first-ever “Earth Day Experience: Sustainability A-Z” will be held 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 23 — a free day-long experience with multiple activities for all ages, will invite you to re-think sustainability and recycling in different ways with hands-on demonstrations, scavenger hunts, science activities, music, art and fun for kids of any age.

Participants can start at Xidas Park and visit other downtown demonstrations then hop a trolley out to the AZEK/TimberTech Demonstration Barn for more demonstrations and activities.

While you are in Wilmington, why not show the kids the importance of hard work and personal responsibility by pitching in and rolling-up your sleeves to help clean-up the beautiful city while having fun with a great group of volunteers?

Contact Annen Vance at [email protected] or at 937.382.5134 for clean-up event details and sign-ups. She has other dates and clean-ups planned in the City of Wilmington, so do not hesitate to call her to get involved.

Last year, almost 300 volunteers picked up litter from over 175 miles of roadways, as well as parks and cemeteries across Clinton County. These generous volunteers donated well over 1,000 hours to litter pick-up activities.

These figures do not even begin to account for all the hours spent by our local governments doing day-to-day clean-up projects and the private residents who quietly picked up litter just because it was the right thing to do.

All Clinton County residents benefited from these individual’s efforts last year. The community owes these generous folks a big thank you!

If big, pre-organized groups are not really your scene, feel free to individually check-out buckets and pickers from the Wilmington Public Library or contact the Clinton County Solid Waste Management District for clean-up kits (safety vests, bags, gloves, grabbers, etc.).

Caring for the earth is not always easy, but just like any garden, your labor of love is rewarded with natural beauty and a bountiful harvest.