T-L File Photo St. Clairsville Elementary students pick up litter at Memorial Park last year. A similar event is planned in Monroe County. The Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District is holding a contest to promote trash cleanup for Earth Day. The winner will receive a year of free trash services.

WOODSFIELD — The Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District is hoping to encourage residents to clean up the area by hosting a new campaign in honor of Earth Day.

Katie Day, program manager for the Monroe County SWCD, said the campaign will last the entire month of April and will result in one household receiving free trash services for a year.

“April is the month for Earth Day so we thought to promote Earth Day we would have a fun contest. We partnered with our local trash pickup company — the McIntire Cartage company — to offer free trash pick up for a year,” she said.

“Our goal is to promote the beautification of Monroe County and hopefully to have some fun and give some incentive to pick up trash.”

The contest will occur online on the district’s Facebook page and will allow residents to show off their litter pickup efforts. County residents are encouraged to pick up litter along any roadway in the county and post a photo of themselves doing so. Day said it is meant to encourage community cleanup while also discouraging littering.

“It can be families, groups, or individuals. Send us pictures of them picking up trash on the side of the road and then post the picture on our Facebook. It’s just to try and make Monroe County look prettier,” she said.

The SWCD has partnered with the office’s own garbage service provider, McIntire Cartage out of Clarington, for the contest. SWCD administrative assistant Kayla Landefeld said she is friends with the owners of the company, Dalton and Hillary McIntire, which aided in making the connection for the campaign. Due to the garbage company’s collection area, the contest winner must be a resident in Monroe County to receive the free service.

Day said a winner will be selected at random during the first week of May, leaving residents this month to pick up litter and submit their photos. Anyone with questions can contact the office at 740-472-5477.

The conservation district makes an effort every year to promote environmental activities surrounding Earth Day on April 22.

“In years past we’ve partnered with the county to promote litter pickups but this is the first for us doing it on our own,” Day said.