AHOSKIE – An event scheduled for 9 a.m. until 12 noon here Saturday will go a long way in helping to protect the environment.

Aided by the efforts of several organizations, Nucor-Hertford County will host its seventh annual Earth Day celebration by conducting a recycling drive in downtown Ahoskie. The location is at the North Carolina-Virginia Rail Station located behind Farmer’s Furniture. The site is accessible by using the driveway behind the Earl Theatre.

“This event has grown each and every year,” Terry Hairston, Nucor’s Environmental Manager, said. “To date we’ve collected hundreds of thousands of pounds of scrap metal, keeping it out of our landfills which, in turn, protects the environment.”

After cleaning and processing the scrap metal, Nucor recycles those products into steel plate.

Hairston said volunteers will be on-hand to help unload the scrap metal n white goods, farm implements, auto parts, etc.

Additionally, Saturday’s celebration will accept household hazardous waste n paint, solvents, pesticides, electronic goods, batteries, fluorescent bulbs and used motor oil.

“This is our first year in offering this service,” Hairston said. “It not only gives those in our local communities a chance to dispose of these items, but it also prevents them from winding up in the wrong place and contaminating the environment.”

Assisting Nucor in the Earth Day celebration are NCVA Railroad, Marine Terminals, Waters and Waters Construction, Rascoe Automotive, NC Department of Agriculture (Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program) and the Hertford County Cooperative Extension Service.

“Our sponsors are investing time and money to put on this event for the community,” Hairston noted. “We are very appreciative of their involvement, all in an effort to protect the environment.”

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, people around the world have sought to celebrate the planet through a variety of individual and community activities. While Earth Day is about observing the beauty and vitality of nature, it is also about renewing the public’s commitment to saving our living planet.