Some take Earth Day with pride, but for others it feels like another ordinary day of spring. For Green Bellevue, a Sarpy County committee focused on environmental awareness, it is a day for celebration.

On April 30, Green Bellevue will be hosting its annual Sarpy County Earth Day Celebration & Expo at the Lied Activities Center.

“We have some advertisements around and then posting on Facebook and sending out save-the-date stuff,” Green Bellevue member Kat Woerner said. “So, right now the big thing is marketing. We’ve been planning it for about five months now, so we just finally have to put it out there.”

This year is the eighth annual Earth Day Celebration that Green Bellevue has organized. Four years ago, the committee decided to expand the celebration to involve Sarpy County as a whole rather than just Bellevue.

According to Green Bellevue’s website, the celebration this year will “feature fun and educational environmentally friendly activities, with a highlight on the environmental efforts in our community.”

One of the founding members and Vice President of Green Bellevue Ruth Richter said it’s a great event to learn about the environment and become aware of how groups and individuals can work together to create a healthier planet.

“This is one place where you can kind of get immersed in what everyone in the world wants to know about, how to be more individually responsible with what you do everyday,” Richter said.

Richter organized the sessions and gathered volunteers and helpers for the event to run smoothly. She is also the project manager and overseer. She is looking to pass on her leadership role next year and has been training new leaders through this expo.

There will be numerous activities planned including a 5K run, Zumba, Trashion Show and a small auto display featuring Tesla electric cars. Community members from around the city will come to the expo to talk about their groups and how they have been helping the environment.

While being a part of Green Bellevue, Woerner is also a member of the Ecology Club and works across both groups to promote green habits and ways to help the community as a whole.

“I’m like the youngest person in that group so then I think of ideas,” Woerner said. “I kind of try to think of what Bellevue West is going to do and students across Sarpy County.”

Many sponsors helped Green Bellevue make this event possible and they have made an effort to put the funds to good use.

“All the funds go to the cost of Earth Day but we are very conservative and try not to spend too much money,” Richter said. “So the funds will actually be used to spend money on efforts within the communities.”