COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (April 14, 2015) – More than 800 elementary school students and their families, Miami Dolphin alumni players and cheerleaders participated in the 6th Annual Earth Day Open House hosted by Waste Management at Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park.
The event raised nearly $17,000 for PTA associations at nine area schools. Students participated in hands-on recycling, renewable energy and environmental-related activities, and learned from experts about how landfill gas becomes electricity and “clean” renewable energy.
The students made an Edible Landfill out of layers of crushed graham crackers, fruit roll-up liner, cookie crumb dirt, and candy “trash” and took a bus tour of the real landfill and landfill gas-to-energy plant.
“This was our sixth annual Earth Day celebration offering elementary school students and their families a look at leading-edge technology and practices at Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park,” said Dawn McCormick, Community Affairs Director for Waste Management. “This year we placed an emphasis on the importance of something each one of us can do every day by recycling correctly since, unfortunately, up to 65 percent of consumers place non-recyclables in their curbside recycling bins.”
Miami Dolphins alumni players Nat Moore, Lousaka Polite and Joe Rose and signed autographs and cheerleaders posed for photos with the students in front of a Waste Management compressed natural gas (CNG) powered truck which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is part of Waste Management’s largest fleet of CNG trucks in the waste industry.
Everything from the event was recycled with plastic beverage containers going to Waste Management’s Reuter Recycling Center in Pembroke Pines and food scraps and paper products headed to Waste Management’s Okeechobee Organics Recycling Facility to become compost.
The event raised funds for each school’s PTA. Waste Management awarded $3,000 to Tradewinds Elementary in Coconut Creek for registering the most students at the event. Quiet Waters Elementary in Deerfield Beach took the next honors receiving $2,500 and Winston Park Elementary in Coconut Creek earned $2,000 for third. All other participating elementary schools received $1,500 for their respective PTAs: Piney Grove Boys Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, Margate Elementary and Atlantic West Elementary in Margate, and Heron Heights Elementary and Park Trails Elementary in Parkland.
Seven of the schools also participated in the Art Dumpster contest with Earth Day themes of Recycling, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and Water Conservation. The first place winner was Park Trails Elementary; second place went to Tradewinds Elementary and Coconut Creek Elementary finished third. All participating schools earned gift cards to Michael’s for future art projects.
Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park is bordered by Wiles Road, Powerline Road, Sample Road and Florida’s Turnpike.
ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are the largest residential recycler and also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com.