Schools in Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties are invited to participate in the fifth annual School Rain Barrel Design Competition. The event will take place at the 2017 Northwest Indiana Earth Day Celebration at the Porter County Expo Center on April 22.
All schools, public and private, and all grades can participate. Teachers must register for the competition on www.PorterCountyRecycling.org by March 3 or before the competition is filled, whichever comes first. Only one barrel allowed per school.
Participants will receive a rain barrel that they can paint or decorate with environmentally-friendly materials to illustrate an environmental theme.
Barrels will be judged by the visitors attending the Northwest Indiana Earth Day Celebration between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on April 22 at the Porter County Expo Center, 215 E. Division Rd., Valparaiso.
Awards will be given in each of two categories: 1) Elementary and 2) Middle, intermediate and high school. Winners will receive classroom cash scholarships.
The competition is sponsored by Bucher Construction, Northwest Indiana MS4 communities and Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction. Funding for this program was provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Lake Michigan Coastal Program. For more information, call 219-465-3819.
Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction is an agency dedicated to improving the environment and quality of life by providing services and educational programs which help residents reduce, reuse, and recycle.