Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES—Nine regional businesses are sponsoring the prizes for the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District’s (ORSWMD) 27^th Annual Earth Day Poster and Trash Art Contest, themed “Be a Hero: Your Planet Needs You” with a focus on rethinking plastics.

Sponsors of the ORSWMD event include the Cuba Veterinary Clinic, Maries County Bank, Unico Bank, Mid America Bank, Legends Bank, Noah Coleman DAR, Phelps County Bank, Regions Bank and Kaleidoscope Discovery Center. Sponsorships are still being accepted.

The Ozark Rivers Earth Day contest is a poster and trash art competition open to all students in grades kindergarten through 12th in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. Homeschool students meeting these criteria are eligible and encouraged to participate. The graphic art portion of the contest is also open to post-secondary students. This year’s theme focuses on protecting the planet and reducing the use of single purpose plastics, such as straws, bags and cups.

Students have the opportunity to participate in multiple contest categories, including posters (hand-drawn and graphic arts), and re-purposing recyclables and trash into three-dimensional pieces of trash art. All art entries should echo the theme of the contest and an underlying solid waste reduction theme to rethink, refuse, reduce, re-purpose, reuse and then recycle.

First and second place contest winners will each receive prizes, provided by sponsor donations. Honorable mention projects will also be recognized. All prizes will be earth-friendly, with the first prize valued at $30, second prize valued at $10 and honorable mention prizes valued at $5.

Entries for all categories (trash art, hand-drawn poster and graphic arts poster) will be accepted through March 22 and may be dropped off at the county clerk offices at the nearest courthouse or at Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), located at 4 Industrial Dr., St. James. If submitting five or more projects, contact MRPC to arrange transport.

Full contest rules are available at www.ozarkrivers.org or by emailing Jill Hollowell, environmental program specialist, at jhollowell@meramecregion.org. The contest ends March 22.

The Ozark Rivers District consists of 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 the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), provides grants, education and supports waste reduction efforts in member counties and cities.

For more information about ORSWMD or recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers region, please visit ozarkrivers.org or contact Tammy Snodgrass at 573-265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org. You can also follow Ozark Rivers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD.

MRPC provides the day-to-day management for ORSWMD.

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 23, 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.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.

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