‘Every Day is Earth Day’: S.C. Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) Encourages South Carolinians to Celebrate SC’s Natural Environment this Earth Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
April 3, 2025 

COLUMBIA, S.C. — April is Earth Month, and the S.C. Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) urges residents to recognize and celebrate how invaluable South Carolina’s natural environment is to those who live, work and play in the Palmetto State. SCDES employees work every day to protect the state’s air, land, water, and coastal resources for the benefit of all, and residents can help support those efforts.  

SCDES has launched a new Earth Day webpage (des.sc.gov/EarthDay) and social media campaign (@SouthCarolinaDES), offering tips for taking an active role in environmental preservation. Free resources available for download include an Earth Day Checklist, Enviornmental Outreach Activity Book, Earth Day “Glad Jibs” and a commemorative SCDES 2025 Earth Day Poster featuring the state bird, tree and flower. Information about volunteering with Adopt-a-Stream and Adopt-a-Beach is also provided. 

“This Earth Month, we encourage South Carolinians to give back to the environment that gives so much to us,” said Myra Reece, SCDES Interim Director. “Anyone can help support our mission of preserving and protecting a clean, thriving environment by performing volunteer work, taking time to ensure they’re recycling right, or even by simply planting a native tree or flower.” 

SCDES’s team of environmental stewards are scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, geologists, hydrogeologists, meteorologists, health physicists and more – all working to protect South Carolina’s natural resources with a focus on Science, Service and Sustainability. The agency’s five bureaus support a healthy, resilient environment every day: 

• Bureau of Air Quality: protects the air we breathe by ensuring regulated industries comply with state and federal air quality standards, implementing air quality strategies, and joining partners on local air quality awareness efforts.    
   
• Bureau of Coastal Management: helps ensure the appropriate use, development and conservation of the coastal environment by overseeing direct permitting of activities within the state's critical areas and working to preserve the state’s natural, historic and cultural coastal resources. 
   
• Bureau of Land and Waste Management: helps protect land resources by overseeing certain mining and solid waste activities as well as the redevelopment of contaminated industrial sites, supporting recycling and food waste reduction goals, and ensuring the proper handling of hazardous waste, among other important responsibilities.   
   
• Bureau of Regional and Laboratory Services: safeguards the environment by responding to chemical spills and contaminant releases, permitting septic system installations, sampling and monitoring ambient air and water, and investigating environmental concerns. 
   
• Bureau of Water: preserves the state’s water resources by developing and enforcing state water quality standards, overseeing the compliance of drinking water providers, and implementing groundwater protection programs, among many other responsibilities. 

“For us at SCDES, every day is Earth Day,” Reece said. “We encourage South Carolinians to consider Earth Month and Earth Day as calls to action to be a positive force in environmental protection within their communities.” 

Opportunities to support Earth Month and Earth Day include: 

• Volunteer with Adopt-a-Stream: Learn how to help monitor the quality of South Carolina's waterways at free workshops.
• Volunteer with Adopt-a-Beach: Organize and participate in beach cleanups and provide marine debris collection data using the MyCoast South Carolina reporting tool.
• Make sure you Recycle Right: Download the free RecycleRightSC app to learn what, where and how to recycle all sorts of materials.
• Help prevent food waste: Food is the No. 1 item Americans throw away. Visit Don't Waste Food SC to learn food waste prevention tips.
• Plant native trees and flowers: Native plants are the building blocks for a healthy environment. Learn more about South Carolina native plants, trees and flowers from the South Carolina Native Plant Society.
• Participate in a litter clean-up event: PalmettoPride, South Carolina’s leading anti-litter organization, is organizing the SC Sweep from April 25 – May 4, 2025.
• Start a community garden: The only thing better than growing your own produce is sharing it with others. Learn how to start a community garden in your neighborhood with this free resource from Clemson Cooperative Extension.
• Get into nature at your local state park: Spend a day surrounded in nature to realize just how valuable our state's greenspaces are, and check out upcoming Earth Day or clean-up events at your local state park at southcarolinaparks.com. 

Learn more at des.sc.gov/EarthDay and follow the S.C. Department of Environmental Services on social media: @SouthCarolinaDES on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube and @SC_EnvServices on X. 

###