|
PA CleanWays of Westmoreland
County held its annual
appreciation dinner at the
Lakeview Restaurant to honor
the many volunteers and
sponsors who contributed to
another successful year for
the organization.
During the past year,
volunteers cleaned up seven
illegal dump sites and
littered areas, ridding the
environment of 94.5 tons of
trash and 6,298 tires.
Thirteen youth groups
participated in the Fugitive
Tire Program, collecting an
additional 4,700 tires for
proper disposal.
Through collection events
for hard-to-dispose items,
county residents were able
to get rid of 2,561 tires,
251 vehicle batteries, and
403 Freon and non-Freon
containing appliances. Other
recycling programs netted
84,455 lbs. of e-waste, more
than 2,000 Christmas trees,
and 2,562 tons of paper.
The annual Household
Hazardous Waste collection
gave residents a means to
safely dispose of toxic and
poisonous materials stored
in their homes. Volunteers
channeled almost 300 cars
through this year's event,
netting 41,230 lbs. of toxic
material.
The organization conducted
numerous educational
programs, including three
compost workshops where 91
compost bins were
distributed to home
gardeners, numerous
presentations to schools and
civic groups, and a county
recycling guide that is
published and distributed
during Earth Month in April.
Paul Thomas, of Hempfield
Township, was named
Volunteer of the Year for
his participation in all of
the year's collection events
and his personally
recruiting more than 100 new
PA CleanWays members.
A special award was given to
past volunteer of the year
and long-time friend Andres
Villegas of North
Huntingdon. Andres won the
award as a senior at Norwin
High School. Even after
going on to attend the
University of Pittsburgh,
Andres continued his
volunteer activities at PA
CleanWays' collection
events.
PA CleanWays honored road
adopters who had adopted and
kept local roadways
litter-free for ten years or
more. Those recognized were:
the Mountain View Rotary,
represented by Jim Annas;
the Community Women's Club
of Level Green, represented
by Lanita Myers and Karen
Thiry; Donald Myers of
Greensburg, the Patricia
Solich Family of Seward, and
the Robert Lilley Family and
the Roaring Run Resort in
Donegal Township.
Sponsors who supported PA
CleanWays with funding,
services, and manpower
include: the Westmoreland
County Commissioners,
Import-Export Tire Company,
Export Tire Company, Danăs
Tire, Diversified Unlimited,
Salandro's Refuse, Inc.,
Greenridge Reclamation,
Waste Management, Inc.,
Westmoreland Waste,
Westmoreland Fairgrounds
Association, the Municipal
Authority of Westmoreland
County, the Derry Township
Municipal Authority, Durr
Marketing, the Elliott
Company, Menasha
Corporation, Mine Safety
Appliances Company, Colony
Holding Company of North
Huntingdon, Wynnsong
Theater-Carmike Cinemas, and
Unipaper Recycling, Inc.
|
