The city of Claremont is partnering up with The Claremont Colleges to reduce the amount of waste produced at one of the city’s biggest events of the year: the Fourth of July Celebration Fireworks Show. On the evening of July 4, Pomona College’s Strehle Track located at 516 N. Mills Ave. will host a Claremont Kiwanis Club barbecue and a fireworks show.

Tickets, which are $10 pre sale or at the door (if available), can be purchased at the Alexander Hughes Community Center, City Hall, the Claremont Club, Rio de Ojas, Vons and Wolfe’s Market. If it isn’t sold out, limited tickets may be available Thursday, July 4 at Memorial Park. Gates open at 6:30 p.m.

After a heart-warming rendition of the National Anthem by Jason Miranda, families, friends and lovers can cuddle up at 9 p.m. to watch the night sky lit up by such favorites as the Peony, Girandola and Skyrocket.

The festivities’ organizers plan to reduce solid waste at the fireworks show by setting up compost and recycling stations to divert waste from landfills. Claremont College students will be staffing each composting bin station to help event attendees sort their trash. In addition, most of the food serving items used for the Kiwanis Club barbecue will be compostable.

Organizers also encourage attendees to bring recyclable and reusable picnic items to the festivities.

The fireworks show has an estimated attendance of 6,000 people and usually fills one large roll-off bin of trash that holds seven tons of waste. Organizers are hoping that the waste reduction efforts from the event can divert from landfills at least 25 percent of the incoming trash to recycling or compost.

At the festival portion of the Celebration, The Claremont Colleges will host an information booth to educate the community about waste reduction.

This collaboration to promote waste reduction between The Claremont Colleges and the city of Claremont is underwritten by a sustainability grant from Pomona College.