Environment

Keep Sevier Beautiful and Rafting in the Smokies are teaming up on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016 for a back-to-school river cleanup of the Little Pigeon River and its bank along Old Knoxville Highway in Sevierville near the Wilderness at the Smokies resort. The cleanup will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude around noon with a celebration luncheon at Wilderness at ...

Friends of the Smokies has received a grant of $14,000 from REI in support of the Trails Forever program. The funds were made possible through REI’s Asheville and Knoxville locations as part of the 2016 REI Local Grant program, and will be used to continue to fund a full-time trail crew to reconstruct and rehabilitate Alum Cave Trail, one of ...

The City of Sevierville Department of Parks and Recreation has completed installation of new LED light fixtures at the Municipal Complex. In December 2015, the city requested a TVA audit to determine the feasibility of replacing the fifty high-pressure sodium fixtures throughout the Municipal Complex parking areas with LED light fixtures. The TVA audit was completed in January and auditors ...

The Tennessee Municipal League has honored the City of Gatlinburg with an award for its commitment to green initiatives. A gateway to Tennessee’s only national park, the officials with the City of Gatlinburg have made it their mission to preserve the natural beauty of their surroundings for future generations as well as implementing new and innovative environmentally friendly technology into ...

Keep Sevier Beautiful, a local nonprofit organization that promotes litter prevention, recycling and beautification throughout Sevier County, recently awarded Trillium Awards to outstanding volunteers at its annual Volunteer Appreciation Night at Smokies Stadium. Keep Sevier Beautiful presented awards in six categories: youth volunteers, adult volunteers, organization of the year, business of the year, outstanding service award, and the Trillium Award ...

Keep Sevier Beautiful staff and volunteers will be crafting plastic shopping bags into plarn fencing for the upcoming Wears Valley Fall Fest after the group’s committee meeting on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Crafting will begin around 10 a.m. at the Keep Sevier Beautiful office and volunteers may stay for as long as they’d like. What is plarn? Plarn is plastic ...

An event to honor Sevierville’s dedication to management of public trees and Tree City USA designation will feature historical presentations, speeches by local officials, music and free seedlings. The City of Sevierville Trees/Trails and Beautification Board will celebrate its 32nd year as a Tree City USA with a celebration beginning at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 13, 2016 at the ...

Local residents can dispose of household hazardous waste such as old and leftover automotive, home improvement and garden products for free at an event on Saturday in Sevierville. Household hazardous waste materials are those considered flammable, toxic, reactive and/or corrosive that should not be placed with regular garbage. The Extreme Household Cleanup Event will be held 8 a.m.–1 p.m. on ...

Each spring when the mountains turn green, Gatlinburg celebrates “Going Green” in a big way during the annual Earth Week Celebration held Monday, April 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2016. Gatlinburg dedicates an entire week to celebrate caring for the earth with events designed to share easy green practices through games, crafts and music, opportunities to get outside and maybe even get your ...

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies has added solar panels that started producing electricity in December of 2015. The panels were installed by Green Earth Solar and supply power for TVA’s renewable energy program, Green Power Providers. “As a Green Power participant, we are proud supporters of locally generated, renewable resources,” said Jay Bryan, director of Maintenance and Engineering for Ripley’s ...