President's Message

A few months ago, Oro Loma introduced single-stream recycling and the use of environmentally-friendly, compressed natural gas trucks. Because recycling became easier by eliminating the need to pre-sort materials, some customers who had recycled little in the past increased their recycling efforts dramatically. In fact, many customers who were regularly recycling increased their efforts and requested larger-capacity recycling carts. Oro Loma customers are definitely doing their part in the environmental fight for a cleaner tomorrow.

It has been over ten years since recycling was introduced in Oro Loma. In spite of that effort and much to our surprise, we determined that most schools in our District were simply not putting much effort into recycling! Because schools generate a great deal of recyclable waste, mostly in the form of classroom paper and cafeteria associated food packaging, Oro Loma decided to address this issue directly. We formed a partnership with the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Waste Management of Alameda County to both educate school children about recycling, and to reward the schools that implement recycling programs and achieve specific recycling goals. As a result, at the July 20, 2004 Board meeting, seven schools within the San Lorenzo School District were awarded $4,000 each. The following schools - San Lorenzo High School, Hesperian School, Bay School, Bohannon Middle School, Dayton School, Grant School, and Hillside Elementary School - met or exceeded the goal of 30% waste reduction during the 2003-2004 school year. These schools reported to us that their success was due to actively involving the students, janitorial staff, and teachers in their programs. An added bonus for these schools is that as their recycling efforts increase, their garbage bills decrease! Truly a win-win situation.

Learn more about our other recycling programs in the Fall 2004 Newsletter!