Earth Day Columbus Plans for World’s Largest Volunteering Weekend in 2012

Spring may not quite be in the air just yet, but this warm February weather has already got us thinking about gardening, planting and spring cleaning. The fine folks at Green Columbus must also be in the same mindset as they plan for the upcoming Earth Day events held in April.

Once again, this year’s volunteer-based events aim to be the world largest of its type. Last year, over 3,000 volunteers contributed to 137 worksites throughout the region, putting in over 8,000 hours of work in a single weekend — the largest volunteer turnout of any Earth Day effort. This year, volunteers will participate on April 14th and 15th, with a festival to celebrate the following weekend on Saturday, April 21st. Green Columbus has set a goal of having 5,000 volunteers contributing a total of 10,000 hours of service.

“We are asking Central Ohioans to connect with the local environment as well as thousands of their neighbors to beautify the place we all call home,” says Tad Dritz, founder of Green Columbus. “Especially in this bicentennial year it’s important for us to show our Columbus pride and do what we can to make our city as green as it can be.”

Interested volunteers will be able to register in advance in mid-March at www.earthdaycolumbus.org. Until then, you can keep up with updates via Facebook or Twitter.