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Community values trees, recycling
Keep Liberty Beautiful
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We love trees — especially at this time of the year! Georgia Arbor Day, which is celebrated annually on the third Friday of February, is this Friday. In honor of Arbor Day, we will give out more than 230 trees to be planted in our community this year.
I’d like to send out a big thank you to all of the businesses, civic and youth groups, churches and individuals who already have committed to planting more than 160 trees so far. We still have about 65 trees that have not yet been reserved, which we will give out Saturday at our quarterly Recycle It! Fair.
Trees are an important part of our environment because they add many health benefits to our lives; plus, they’re nice to look at. Here is a roundup of the Arbor Day activities happening this week and a list of items that will be collected Saturday at the Recycle It! Fair:
• Community tree giveaway: To celebrate Georgia Arbor Day, Keep Liberty Beautiful, with the help of the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Forestry Commission, the Coastal Courier and Brewer’s Christmas Tree Farm, is providing free trees for planting. We have dogwoods, crepe myrtles, oaks and redbuds. I have no doubt the trees will add greatly to the aesthetics of our community.
• Tree giveaway for local residents: From 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at our quarterly Recycle It! Fair, KLB will give away an additional 100 trees, including dogwoods, oaks, cedars, catalpas and crepe myrtles, to local residents while supplies last. More than 40 trees already have been reserved so if you are looking for a specific type of tree, contact us soon and we can tag it for you. The Recycle It! Fair and tree giveaway will be at the corner of Carter Street and Oglethorpe Highway in Hinesville.
The trees are free. We only ask that you take a photo of your group or employees planting the trees and e-mail us the picture along with caption information by Feb. 22. We want to include the photos in a full-page Arbor Day spread that the Coastal Courier graciously has agreed to provide us with this month. For information on the tree giveaways, call Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888 or e-mail klcb@libertycountyga.com.
• Arbor Day photo exhibit: We sponsored an Arbor Day photo contest this year in partnership with the Hinesville Area Arts Council. We asked local amateur photographers to share their photographic interpretations of coastal trees. If you love trees as much as I do, you will want to check out the exhibit at 6 p.m. Friday at the Liberty County Schools Performing Arts Center in Flemington. All contest participants will be honored and awards will be given out.
• Recycle It! Fair: Our quarterly Recycle It! Fair will be from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Carter Street and Oglethorpe Highway in Hinesville. Each quarter, we collect electronics and household hazardous waste items that need to be recycled — not tossed in the trash. Electronics release toxins over time that we really don’t want in landfills. We sincerely appreciate our co-sponsors, Goodwill Industries and Coastal Auto and Recycling, for helping to make these quarterly collections possible.
We will be collecting the following items:
• Electronic waste: old computers, printers, monitors, computer accessories, ink cartridges, stereo equipment and televisions, cell phones and cell phone accessories. Technology truly has revolutionized our lives in the past several decades, but electronics can create significant hazards if disposed of in landfills. All hard drives will be wiped clean for security purposes by Goodwill Industries. Recycling these items benefits the environment and local service organizations.
• Household waste: batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and fixtures, telephone books, hardback books, clothes (in good condition) and paint (Cans must be sealed well and not rusted. If cans are not in good condition, add cat litter or sand to the paint, let it completely dry up and then dispose of the paint in your regular garbage.)
• Automotive fluids and parts: used motor oil, antifreeze and car batteries. Never pour automotive fluids down a drain or into a storm drain or just dump them. They cause severe water pollution problems. When you are storing motor oil and other auto fluids to bring in for recycling, put them in clean, dry containers so the fluid is not contaminated.
We also would like to thank the local elementary schools and several area family restaurants that will share our annual Arbor Day placemats with local children this week. Arbor Day is a great time to plant trees and remember how much they add to our lives. Happy Arbor Day!

More events for you:
• Through Feb. 15: phonebook recycling. Turn in phone books at collection boxes around the county. For information, call 880-4888.
• Feb. 26: Shred Day from 1-3 p.m. at building 419, furniture store parking lot, on Fort Stewart. For information, call 767-8613.

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