For 15 years, the local community has been gathering at the Sahd Metal Recycling center to celebrate Earth Day. This year, Sahd is expanding the event on Saturday, April 22, to include more vendors, presenters, contests and a free grab-and-go meal from a local barbecue chef.

Sahd will promote Earth Day by allowing families to tour the scrap metal yard at 5 and 6 p.m., with the opportunity to watch all the big cranes and shears in action, moving, cutting and scrapping metal.

In addition to covering all aspects of reducing, reusing and recycling metal, vendors will cover other conservation efforts with topics, including other material recycling, native plants, wildlife conservation, alternative energy, composting and many other themes.

Starting at 4:30 p.m. on April 22, activities will include the following: expert presentations; vendor tables; yard tours; contests and prizes, including a chance to win a large Yeti cooler; a free Rocky's BBQ grab-and-go dinner for those registered on Eventbrite; and family-friendly activities.

The celebration is not limited to the in-person events; check the Online Earth Day Trivia Challenge at http://www.recycleyourmetal.com/earth-day to earn a free Hinkle's sundae and a chance to win the cooler. In addition to the prizes and contests, Sahd will offer special aluminum can recycling prices all week.

Sahd Metal Recycling is located at 1045 Lancaster Ave., Columbia. For more information, visit http://www.RecycleYourMetal.com.