By Paulo Heyman
March 19, 2001

US Representative Sam Farr (CA) presented the Recycling At Work Award to 13 organizations in recognition of their excellence in workplace recycling at the Municipal Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting in Washington on March 5, 2001.

Rep. Farr, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittees of Agriculture and Military Construction, applauded the awards program as one that recognizes the "grass-roots efforts to create efficient, workable recycling programs throughout the communities of America." Rep. Farr also acknowledged the valuable efforts of The US Conference of Mayors, "because it is within the cities of America where the most visible and useful recycling efforts take place."

Rep. Farr is well known among recycling professionals for his commitment to environmental work. In 1999 Rep. Farr introduced legislation that mandated participation by the House of Representatives in a recycling program to bring them in line with the rest of America. Although this bill experienced significant resistance from the House Leadership and ultimately did not pass, there were encouraging successes as a result of his efforts. Rep. Farr currently is working on a comprehensive new bill that he hopes "will build on President Clinton's executive order and increase the 30-percent standard for recycled content purchases by the Federal government."

Rep. Farr concluded the Recycling At Work Awards ceremony by discussing the issues of the global population explosion, global warming, and the current energy crisis in California. "We constantly need to do more, to look for ways to recycle, reuse and recover our resources, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is absolutely urgent that we do so."