College to host Earth Day competition.

VICTORY TWP. – The West Shore Community College Sustainability Movement is encouraging students and the community to support and participate in environmental improvement projects throughout April.

Beginning Mon., April 6, the Sustainability Movement will host an online Earth Day competition.

To be entered in the competition, simply post a picture of your participation in an environmental improvement event or activity on the Sustainability Movement Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages and use ‪#‎WSCCEarthDay so judges can find your post.

The winner will receive a gift basket of earth-friendly products from the WSCC Bookstore.

The competition ends at midnight, April 19, and winners will be announced on Earth Day, April 22.

In addition, the Sustainability Movement will host a “Create Your Own Reusable Canvas Bag” event for students on Earth Day from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Schoenherr Campus Center atrium.

Reusable canvas bags will be provided for students to decorate using iron-on decals.

The Sustainability Movement will also introduce and encourage students to use the newly installed water bottle refilling station located next to the Beans & Bread Café in the Schoenherr Campus Center.

According to the “Ban the Bottle” web site, “making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year. The energy wasted using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes and, last year, the average American used 167 disposable water bottles, but only recycled 38.”

For more information on the impact water bottles have on the environment, visit http://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/

Now in its 45^th year, the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Growing out of the first Earth Day, more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.