Manmeet Poonam Sandhu Anticipates Success of New Waste Diversion Program

Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 25, 2012

The Wall Street Journal has announced that the Tournament Zero Waste Challenge, created and executed by Waste Management, has exceeded its goal of 90 percent waste diversion by keeping 97 percent of the waste generated at the Waste Management Phoenix Open PGA Tour out of landfills. A tremendous accomplishment, the organization is excited to share the news of its success. Manmeet Poonam Sandhu, an environmentalist and waste diversion advocate, applauds the success of the Zero Waste Challenge. She sees this accomplishment as validation that her own program, Waste Diversion DC, can succeed.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the challenge required several months of preparation and continued for multiple weeks after the tournament was over. Through the efforts of volunteers and program leaders, this initiative conserved 1,149 trees, 574,865 kilowatt-hours of electricity, 394,310 gallons of water, 843 cubic yards of space in a landfill, and 582 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the project required vendors to use recyclable materials and informed attendees about recycling and composting. Additionally, the PGA Tour stop is the first in history not to offer trash cans. Instead, volunteers put disposed materials into bins and, when taken off of the course, these bins were sorted and the contents sent for recycling and composting.

Manmeet Poonam Sandhu believes that the success of this initiative proves how powerful waste diversion can be. In fact, she sees it as an indication that her own waste diversion project, Waste Diversion DC, can thrive.

"I am really excited to hear that the tournament was able to achieve a 97 percent diversion rate," commented Manmeet Poonam Sandhu. "This gives me hope as Project Lead for Waste Diversion DC (WDDC), a Clinton Global Initiative University commitment that will try to divert 70 percent of the waste created at a local outdoor event. WDDC will use a diversion model created in Vancouver, Canada, for the 100,000 attendee strong annual Vaisakhi parades. I think the public and the government of Washington, DC, have a lot to learn from the success of sustainable events in Vancouver and Phoenix."

Manmeet Poonam Sandhu is encouraging cities and environmentalists to look to the examples that Vancouver, Phoenix, and other forward-thinking communities have set when designing waste diversion programs.

ABOUT:

Manmeet Poonam Sandhu is currently attending The George Washington University, where she is in the process of earning her Master of Public Health degree in Environmental Health Science and Policy. An academic, environmentalist, and entertainer, Manmeet Poonam Sandhu has dedicated a great deal of her time to advancing the positive effects that she has on her school and her community. Most recently, she has embarked on an endeavor to develop and lead Waste Diversion DC, which is a program that aims to result in the requirement of waste diversion at public events.

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