Atlanta Earth Day Celebration

April is Earth Month and Keep Atlanta Beautiful (KAtlB), City of Atlanta, and The BeltLine Partnership are celebrating by hosting the 2nd annual Arms Around Atlanta ~ Earth Day Celebration, which this year will feature two festivals over two weekends, made possible through support from Pratt Industries and The Home Depot Foundation. On April 19, Zoo Atlanta will sponsor the first event, where Zoo patrons will enjoy $5 off general admission with the donation of a used cell-phone to benefit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Zoo admission will also include access to the Earth Day World Music Fest and the Kids ECO-Zone, a special area where kids can learn about “Stepping Lightly in Atlanta” and reducing their carbon footprint.

On April 26, 10 am – 10 pm, the festival will move on to Glenwood Park. Festival-goers will enjoy the Earth Day World MusicFest, the Kids ECO-Zone and the Organic and Local Food Pavilion, sponsored by Georgia Organics, offering information on best practices and resources for connecting with growers, grocers and restaurants that support “Local Foods, Sustainable Farms and Healthy People.” At noon, Mayor Shirley Franklin, Anthony Pratt, Chairman and CEO of Pratt Industries, Kelly Kafarelli, Executive Director of The Home Depot Foundation and WSB-TV’s Tom Jones will award the winners of the “Stepping Lightly in Atlanta Awards Contest.” 

On April 26, City Councilmember Carla Smith will host an e-Waste recycling drive at Turner Field in the Gold Parking Lot, where residents can recycle their old computers, monitors, TVs (TV’s will have a recycle charge), and other used electronics. Last year, more than 80,000 lbs. of e-Waste were recycled!

Throughout the month of April, KAtlB will sponsor community-based projects to help clean and green neighborhoods and parks in the City of Atlanta along with many located on and close to Atlanta’s BeltLine. Last Earth Day, with the help of more than 55 teams, or 1200 volunteers, KAtlB successfully beautified 31 sites around the city and recycled more than 8,500 lbs of recyclable waste as well as 13,000 tires. Thanks to The Home Depot Foundation for their generous support in 2007 and for helping KAtlB carry on the tradition in 2008.

For more information about all this month's events visit www.KeepAtlantaBeautiful.org.