Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES—Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (ORSWMD) announced two Salem R-80 students were among the 34 first and second place winners and 41 honorable mentions earning prizes in the 25th Annual Earth Day Poster, Trash and Graphic Art contest. This year’s contest theme was “Be Earth Wise.”

“The primary purpose of the Ozark Rivers Earth Day Art Contest is giving youth a voice through art,” said Jill Hollowell, environmental programs specialist at Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC). “We hope this contest stimulated ideas on how to rethink wasteful habits such as accepting plastic shopping bags to consciously reducing waste by reusing shopping bags.”

The contest required participants to re-purpose trash into three-dimensional pieces of art or create posters (hand drawn or graphically designed), based on this year’s theme. There were 480 entries from 14 schools. The contest was open to kindergarten through 12th grade, homeschool, college and university students who reside or attend school in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties.

“The Earth Day contest is one of my favorite projects – every year the entries just get better and better. What a fun way to educate our kids on being good stewards of our environment,” said Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC’s environmental program manager.

Winners from the Salem R-80 District were:

• Kelsey Stienbarger, 7th grade, Salem Middle School, 1st Place Trash Art.
• Kaycee Ditch, 6th grade, Salem Middle School, Honorable Mention Trash Art.

Salem R-80 students participating in the contest were under the direction of teacher Angela Dingess.

Judges for the contest included Wanda Roberson with Mid America Bank and Sally Carroll and Tishia Gibson-Tsiptsis with Phelps County Bank. The identities of the students and their schools were concealed during the judging process.

The 2017 Earth Day contest was funded through an ORSWMD grant, made possible through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), along with donations from the following area sponsors: Belgrade State Bank, Kaleidoscope Discovery Center, Legends Bank, the Maries County Bank, Mid America Bank, Peoples Bank, Phelps County Bank and Unico Bank.

For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area visit www.ozarkrivers.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD, or contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, or Hollowell at 573-265-2993.

The Ozark Rivers District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. The district’s strategy for solid waste reduction, which has been individually adopted by all member governments and approved by Missouri Department of Natural Resources involves public education and resources for waste reduction in member counties and cities. MRPC provides administration of the district and assists with a variety of implementation projects.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 25, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.orgor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.