Keep Columbus Beautiful gives residents a week’s worth of Earth Day events
Keep Columbus Beautiful is hosting a series of events as part of its week-long celebration of Earth Day.
The 56th anniversary of the first Earth Day is April 22, but KCB has events starting as early as April 18 to highlight environmental stewardship and sustainability.
“We decided to do a whole week of sharing initiatives and events that could engage the public to do better,” said Lisa Thomas-Cutts, executive director of Keep Columbus Beautiful.
It’s a week of events that has something for everyone.
April 18, from 9-11 a.m., KCB will host three cleanups around the city: Rigdon/Oakland Park & Riverwalk, Macon Road & Industrial Park and East Wynton Community.
During last year’s Earth Week cleanup, KCB had 70 participants, Thomas-Cutts said, and she hopes to have at least 30 in each location this year.
April 20 is the Fill the Bin Challenge, when residents are encouraged to fill their recycling bins, take a photo of it and share it on social media. Thomas-Cutts hopes to see people on social media bragging about how much they use their recycling bin to promote recycling.
April 21, residents can drop off household food scraps at the Columbus Botanical Garden from 9-11 a.m. Thomas-Cutts said this is an initiative that the garden started every Tuesday, and her orgnaization has partnered with them to help spread the word about composting opportunities in Columbus.
Composting has been proven to be more impactful in combatting climate change from its direct methane pollution reduction than recycling plastic.
April 22, Earth Day, is about energy awareness on the KCB Earth Week calendar of events. Columbus residents can participate by turning their lights off for an hour.
April 23 is another social media tagging day, and April 24 is about water conservation tips in partnership with Columbus Water Works.
April 25, residents can have their discarded paper shredded for free from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way. The limit is three trash bags per person Items not accepted include three-ring binders, external hard drives and metal products.
Thomas-Cutts said this is one of the more popular events that people ask for every year.
“It’s a drive-thru, drop off shred event,” she said. “It’s a way to recycle and keep important, personal information safe.”
If none of these events are something residents can participate in, one thing Thomas-Cutts hopes for is a pledge to pick up 250 pieces of trash by July 4. Keep America Beautiful Cities, of which KCB is an affiliate, are pledging to pick up 250 pieces of litter in honor of the 250th anniversary of the nation.
To learn more about Earth Week activities or register for events, visit KeepColumbusBeautifulga.org or call 706-225-4008.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 2:29 PM.