Residents of Newton County can bring paper documents to the Newton County Library parking lot, 7116 Floyd Street, Northeast, on Monday, April 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful (KCNB) is working with SRG Global to give area residents a chance to shred personal documents for free.

Each person will be limited to five standard boxes of paper. Even if it’s before 3 p.m., the event will end when the shredder operator declares the truck full.

According to KCNB Director Laurie Riley, “KCNB’s Paper Shred Event offers a convenient service at no cost to Newton County residents, who can safely dispose of confidential documents. The event also offers KCNB the opportunity to reach a segment of our community who may not otherwise recycle.”

KCNB, the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, provides environmental education and beautification programs in Newton County. KCNB is holding the community paper shred day as an Earth Day Event, and all paper collected will be recycled.

Officially, Earth Day is on April 22. Earth Day was started in 1970 in San Francisco as a day for people to reflect on the Earth and the environment. It was initially celebrated on March 21 to coincide with the vernal equinox and the first day of spring. It has developed into an internationally celebrated day for environmental education and earth-friendly events such as recycling events, litter cleanups, and planting flowers and trees. In 1971, Senator Gaylord Nelson announced an Earth Week for the third week of April to be celebrated annually.

KCNB’s first community Paper Shred Event was held for Earth Day in 2014, with more than 4 tons recycled. At its most recent shred event for America Recycles Day in November 2015, KCNB collected 6,680 pounds from Newton County residents.

KCNB plans to continue to coordinate free community paper shred events twice a year and is seeking sponsors to offset event costs. For more information, visit www.kcnb.biz or call 770-784-2015.