Press Release

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND VALLEY YOUTH GO
“DUMPSTER DIVING” AT THE FALL FESTIVAL

Lancaster, CA, October 9, 2007 – As you stroll around the Palmdale Fall Festival, eating great food, looking at arts and crafts and attending the concerts, you may notice some local youth “dumpster diving.”

Waste Management has teamed up with Cub Scout Pack 243 to go through the trash and pull out the plastic bottles and aluminum cans for recycling – and fundraising. This group will work the weekend event collecting recyclables. You can see them in their Waste Management volunteer T-shirts.

“Our kids just love doing this each year,” said Kitty Hawk, Tiger Leader for Pack 243. “They work hard to be sure to collect every single can or bottle they can find. In the end, it pays off!”

You can help make the Cub Scouts’ recycling job easier by using the labeled recycling containers at the festival. Take your can or bottle to the green plastic carts with the holes on top of the lids. Not only will you be helping the environment by recycling, but you will also be helping out some of our local youth in the process.

“This is a great group of kids and we are happy to work with them. It is important to Waste Management that we are a partner with the community and a good steward of the environment – this program does both,” said Bill Minnis, Director of Operations.

To make the dumpster diving a little more “rewarding” for the Scouts, Waste Management will match the amount they collect, dollar for dollar.

“Most people don’t think twice about what happens to that can or plastic bottle when they are finished with it,” said Janette Crawford, Community Relations Manager for Waste Management in the Antelope Valley. “All we ask is that you put your cans and bottles – at the festival and at home – in the recycling bin.”

Waste Management of the Antelope Valley operates both the Palmdale and Lancaster Landfills as an integral part of the Valley’s solid waste management infrastructure. The facilities handle municipal solid waste, which is heavily regulated, monitored and controlled by local, state and federal government agencies. In addition to its community contributions and significant volunteer efforts, Waste Management of the Antelope Valley provides residential, commercial, construction and recycling services.  For more information of how we "think green," visit www.KeepingAVclean.com.

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