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Published: April 17 2013

Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, , Coconut Creek Vice Mayor Lisa K. Aronson, Coconut Creek Commissioner Mikkie Belvedere and Waste Management Market Area Vice President Tim Hawkins with the donation to the Winston Park Elementary School’s PTA association. Credit: Darryl Nobles.

Local students and their families participated in hands-on environmental activities at the fourth annual Earth Day Open House at Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park that culminated with donations by the event's host Waste Management to the parent teacher associations of seven local participating schools which totaled $13,500.

Students from Coconut Creek Elementary,Tradewinds and Winston Park elementary schools in Coconut Creek, Quiet Waters Elementary School in Deerfield Beach, Sanders Park Elementary School in Pompano Beach and Heron Heights and Park Trails elementary schools in Parkland participated in the event in which 90 percent of the waste produced was recycled.

Food scraps, paper products and other organic material produced during the event was recycled into compost at Waste Management's Okeechobee Organics Recycling Facility. Other recyclable items from the event, including plastic beverage containers, were sent to Waste Management's Reuter Recycling Center in Pembroke Pines for recycling.

In advance of the Earth Day Open House, each school decorated a dumpster using an environmental theme. During the open house, participants learned from experts about how waste and the landfill gas it generates becomes electricity and "clean" renewable energy, environmental safeguards and ground water monitoring, and recycling tips. Other activities included a bus tour of the real landfill and creating an edible landfill.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is the largest recycler in North America and a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company's customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America.

As Waste Management marks the 43rd Earth Day 2013, it continues its commitment to corporate sustainability initiatives and goals including:

Doubling energy generation from waste to power the equivalent of 2 million homes by 2020;
Nearly tripling the amount of material recycled to 20 million tons annually by 2020;
Increasing fleet fuel efficiency by 15 percent and reducing emissions by 15 percent by 2020.

To learn more information about Waste Management visit  www.wm.com