Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES––Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (ORSWMD) is now accepting submissions for its 35th Annual Earth Day Trash Art, Poster and Graphic Art contest. The theme for this year’s art contest is “Be a Food Waste Warrior” to increase awareness of food waste.

The Ozark Rivers Earth Day contest is a poster, trash art and graphic art competition open to all students in grades kindergarten through 12^th 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. 

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. Posters should echo the theme of reducing food waste, a top priority in the district. The trash art contest may follow the underlying solid waste management theme to reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle. 

First and second place contest winners will be awarded prizes, made possible by sponsor donations. Honorable mention projects will also be recognized. All prizes will contain recycled content, with the first prize valued at $30, second prize valued at $15 and honorable mention prizes valued at $5 approximately.

Entries for all categories (trash art, hand-drawn poster and graphic arts poster) will be accepted from March 1^st through 19^th 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. Please MRPC at 573-265-2993 if you need assistance with submissions.

Posters must not exceed 18”x13”, and trash art projects must not exceed 1’x 1’ x 1’. Only one entry per category per student will be accepted, but students may submit entries for all three categories. 

All entries must be clearly marked with the student’s name, grade, school district, school name and teacher’s name. If any information is not labeled, the entry will be disqualified.  Full contest rules are available at https://ozarkrivers.org/programs-and-services/earth-day/.

Co-sponsors of the ORSWMD event include Security Bank of Pulaski County, Town & Country Bank, Maries County Bank – Vienna, Legends Bank – Belle, Cuba Chamber of Commerce, Creekside Salvage, 63 Auto & Truck Parks, Bank of Crocker and Mid America Bank.  Co-sponsors support the purchase of Earth-friendly prizes for awarded artists.  

If you or your business would like to be a sponsor or for more information about the contest, contact Jill Hollowell, MRPC environmental specialist, at 573-265-2993 ext. 109 or by email at jhollowell@meramecregion.org.

MRPC provides the day-to-day management for the solid waste management district.

The Ozark Rivers District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. Gary Larson, Dent County presiding commissioner, currently serves as the chairman for the district. 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 education and increased recycling and waste reduction efforts in member counties and cities. MRPC provides administration of the district and assists with a variety of implementation projects.

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

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. Osage County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin serves as MRPC chairman. A professional staff of 24, led by Executive Director Bonnie Prigge, 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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