ORANGE COUNTY, April 14, 2006 - For 36 years, people all around the world have celebrated Earth Day each April 22. What started as a grassroots environmental recognition program has in that time evolved into a worldwide campaign to protect our planet.

“We at Waste Management work 365 days a year all throughout North America to protect our planet by implementing waste-to-energy projects, creating recycling programs and using alternative fuel trucks, and we hope that the annual Earth Day celebration might serve as a catalyst for others to start thinking about conservation, recycling and reuse,” said David Ross, senior district manager of Waste Management of Orange County. “We take our company theme line ‘Think Green’ very seriously – thinking green means we have employees who are experts in not only safely disposing of waste, but also reducing it, recycling it and converting it for alternative use.”

Waste Management’s comprehensive services provide not only for the collection, transfer and disposal of the 4.5 pounds of waste the average American produces each day, but also include recycling and resource recovery.

“We are North America’s largest recycler,” said Ross. “Our almost 100 renewable energy projects – capturing landfill gas and converting solid waste to energy – produce the equivalent of enough electricity to power more than 800,000 homes and save the equivalent of about eight million barrels of oil each year.”

In Orange County, Waste Management is proud to support the following activities related to Earth Day (all events take place on Saturday, April 22):

• UCI Annual Open House/Earth Day Celebration – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Aldrich Park on the UC Irvine Campus. The event is free and features booths with information about recycling, as well as other campus organizations and activities.
• City of Mission Viejo’s Tierra Nativa – 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center at 24932 Veterans Way in Mission Viejo. This year's installment of the annual event will include planting and mulching along the original portion of the Oso Creek Trail and the creation of a celebration garden to commemorate the accomplishments of this annual event. After the planting activities, volunteers can enjoy a complimentary lunch, entertainment, environmental information booths and kids' craft activities.
• Laguna Beach Earth Day Beach Cleanup/Music & Art Festival – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the lifeguard tower on Main Beach. The event is free and volunteers can help clean up the beaches of Laguna Beach, while enjoying the work of local artists and musicians.
• La Habra Arbor/Earth Day – 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Portola Park, located at 301 S. Euclid St. Sponsored by the West Coast Arborists and Waste Management, this event provides free mulch and tree seedlings to La Habra residents (proof of residency is required). Participants need to bring their own bags or containers for collection.

More information is available on our community events page.

Events such as this in conjunction with recycling and recovery efforts go a long way to reducing the waste entering our landfills nationwide – and it’s not simply the traditional view of recycling, meaning turning in bottles and cans for processing and reuse, that helps achieve this goal. Among the waste generated by Americans annually is 1.6 million tons of “household hazardous waste” (HHW), which includes paints, cleaners, stains and varnishes, car batteries, motor oil and pesticides. Not only do these items need to be properly handled to eliminate the health risks these materials can pose to people and the environment, but this also helps to ensure that whatever elements can be recycled from HHW are in fact recycled.

One way to reduce HHW is to use non-hazardous or less hazardous products. You can do this by reducing the amount of products you purchase that have hazardous components or using only the amount you need. Share leftover materials with your neighbors, businesses or community organizations, or give them to a HHW program. For example, excess pesticide can be offered to a greenhouse, garden center or community garden, and theater groups can always use surplus paint.

Recycling is an economical and environmentally sound way to handle some types of HHW, such as used car batteries and oil. Auto parts stores and service stations frequently accept used batteries, and 80 percent of these batteries are currently recycled. Also, many service stations collect used oil as a service to their customers. Tires can also be recycled into a number of products, ranging from artificial reefs to playground equipment to roofing, or used for crash barriers or erosion control.

“These are just a couple of ways residents of Orange County can practice Earth Day every day and contribute to a greener planet,” said Ross. “At Waste Management, green is more than just the color of our trucks and containers. It is a daily reminder to our more than 50,000 employees across North America of the important role we all play as stewards of the environment. By working together and staying involved, we've been able to make a positive difference in neighborhoods in Orange County and all across North America.”

For more information on Earth Day, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at http://www.epa.gov/earthday/index.htm.

For more information about how we think green, log onto www.wmorangecounty.com.

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