Waste Management donates $65,000 to E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center
Partnership will include an adopted Waste Management classroom to teach a recycling curriculum called “Sort it Out”
Students who visit the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center during the 2011-2012 school year will be talking trash, literally. Waste Management donated $65,000 to the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center, which includes the adoption of a classroom where kids will learn about Waste Management.
“After one visit to the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center we knew we wanted to be a partner,” said Amy Boyson, community affairs manager for Waste Management. “We strive to be a community partner in the areas we serve and we focus on initiatives that relate to the environment and education and this is a perfect fit.”
Over the next two months the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center and Waste Management will work together to develop a curriculum and design a classroom that will coincide. Laura Sell, E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center Educator, will teach the curriculum to students and will tour Waste Management facilities to gain in-depth knowledge about recycling, landfills, renewable energy projects and composting.
“For the past 7 years, recycling has been a passion for me,” said Christy Scally, E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center director. “It is an immediate action anyone can take to help the environment. When I launched the Blue Bag program in 2006 in Walton County, it quickly became apparent the we have an opportunity to help residents learn how to recycle in their own home and this partnership will educate the students about the importance of recycling.”
As part of the curriculum, written in line with the Florida State Standards with a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) focus, students will learn where materials come from and how recycling saves natural resources. They will have an opportunity to show off their math skills by calculating the natural resources that are saved by recycling. They will also learn how Waste Management is responding to the demand for alternatives to fossil fuels through the development of waste-based energy from the waste we all generate.
“We have an incredible opportunity to have a significant impact on students in six counties including Walton, Bay, Washington, Okaloosa, Holmes and Leon,” said Boyson. “Waste Management is more than a garbage company and this partnership allows us to educate students about our sustainability initiatives and how they too can help make a difference and protect our environment. The average person generates 4.5 pounds of garbage each day. We want to educate students on what happens to that garbage after it leaves the curb, and more importantly, how to divert some of that garbage from landfills to save natural resources.”
In addition, Waste Management is donating two Solar Powered Trash Compactors, with recycle units, which are completely self-powered, using built-in solar panels to compact trash. The units are about the same size as a standard 35-gallon trashcan and each compactor provides fives times the capacity of a traditional trash receptacle.
For more information about the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center, please visit their website www.eowilsoncenter.org.
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 residential recycler in North America as well as 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. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.
