Sherman -- The 4th annual Texoma Earth Day Festival at the Sherman Texas Municipal Building and Municipal Lawn was held Saturday, April 22 and featured a full day of events that began at 8:30 a.m. and concluded at 5:00 p.m.

Everyone went home from Earth Day with ideas to lower utility bills and save resources, while Bo, a puppy from the City of Sherman's mobile Adopt-A-Pet trailer, went home with his new owner, Billy Hall.

At least two pets said goodbye to the Adopt-A-Pet trailer and headed to their forever home, in large part because of the high visibility of the trailer which was donated by the estate of Allen G. Smith.

The keynote speaker for the 4th annual Texoma Earth Day Festival was Robin Sowton of the Dallas Sierra Club. Sowton gave a presentation full of ways to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.

For instance, a variable speed pump on a swimming can save the homeowner between 20%-40% on summer electric bills.

"Not all Energy Star products are the same," said Sowton. "They'll have a sign that says Energy Star, but they won't display the wattage used.  That's frustrating to me."

New TVs have low-energy usage settings, explained Sowton, and laptop computers use less electricity than desktop versions.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Recycling has become a major proponent of recycling in its first year of existence and representatives of Choctaw were accepting paper, cardboard, medicine bottles, Styrofoam and plastic.

The Choctaw Recycling booth has examples of shoestrings made from recycled plastic. Styrofoam is run through a densifier at Choctaw Recycling in Durant in order to make it easier to handle in bulk and then sold to manufacturers.

David Trout, environmental planner at Texoma Council of Governments, was on hand to explain programs that help environmentally minded consumers properly dispose of computers and TVs. All computer manufacturers are now required to recycle computers; to learn more about each manufacturer’s free and easy recycling program, visit the TCEQ website http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/p2/P2Recycle/electronics/manufacturer-list.html.

In January 2013, Senate bill 329 will mandate that all TV manufacturers implement similar programs.

Have used oil?  Most oil distributors accept used oil.

Looking for a place that accepts glass? Target at Town Center just north of the US 82 and US 75 intersection accept glass.

North Texas Stargazers had a booth with several telescopes at Earth Day and a steady stream of visitors used the telescopes for a close-up look as sun spots. While the new computerized telescopes can be quite expensive, a good Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) can be found on eBay in the $400-$500 price range.

Several youth art exhibits and hands-on projects were held in the Sherman Municipal Building Ballroom.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge also had representatives manning a booth inside the ballroom.