by Melinda Stone, Managing Partner at Welcome Express, Inc.

“Once upon a time,” I had a career in advertising—specifically in the electronic components market.  In 1984, that industry lured me out of my comfort zone in Ohio and brought me to California—where two years later I would meet my future husband, who was also in the electronics industry (but I digress; that is a story for another time).

The electronics field was a bit slow after the terrorist attacks of 911 and having had a good run, I decided to embrace a new career and started a pet-sitting business.  During my first year in that field a well-established pet sitting company in Laguna Niguel shared that their best source of new customers came from Welcome Express.  I immediately researched this interesting opportunity and became one of the sponsors of the welcome package in my local community. It’s hard for me to realize that was 10-years ago this month!  After a short while, I was bringing other business owners on board with my personal testimony of how well it was working for me…which led to my much larger involvement with Welcome Express.

So . . .  (long story short) the owners of Welcome Express recruited me to work for them  – and the rest is history!

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Welcome Express, Inc. Orange County’s premier welcome service since 1986 – introducing businesses to the lucrative newcomer market.  With 3 print and 3 online products, WEI also produces the new online local search tool: OrangeCountyResourceGuide.com and a relocation guide/newcomer directory “Home At Last”

“Like” Welcome Express on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/welcomeexpress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AB 341 to Take Effect on July 1, 2012

ORANGE COUNTY- JUNE 26, 2012 — Beginning July 1, 2012, Governor Brown’s recently signed legislation AB 341 will take effect, requiring both businesses that generate more than four yards per week of solid waste and multi-family complexes with five units or more to have a recycling program in place.

“While California leads the nation in solid waste diversion, businesses and property owners are being encouraged to be more proactive in doing their part to increase those diversion rates,” said Charissa McAfee, Director of Community Affairs and Public Relations of Waste Management. “Increasing recycling means more material will be kept away from local landfills as we help to conserve earth’s natural resources.”

The company is working with municipalities throughout Southern California on programs to support commercial customers and multi-family complexes in meeting the AB341 requirements.

Tips to Maximize Your Success: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Whether you have an existing recycling program or starting from scratch-here are some quick and easy tips from Waste Management to help property owners and their tenants make California greener:

Appoint a recycling champion: Identify someone in your office building, apartment or condominium complex who will take ownership of the AB 341 process and coordinate participation.

Recycle: Place a desk-side recycling container (an empty copier paper carton will suffice) at every desk. Collect paper, bottles, cans, and cardboard/paperboard from all your employees or tenants. Recycle old printer cartridges using mail-back containers from the supplier. Collect batteries, compact fluorescent bulbs and tubes, along with e-waste for convenient recycling by mail (www.thinkgreenfromhome.com).

Reduce: which may help lower your monthly trash bill. Think before printing a document. E-mail information instead of using a hard copy. By reducing the amount of material going into your trash bins and increasing the level of recycling, you will have immediate impact on your monthly trash rate.

Reuse: Encourage employees and tenants to re-use. Use paper already printed on one side for notes or printing drafts on the other. Bring your lunch to work in reusable containers. Drink coffee out of mug or bring a travel mug with you to the coffee shop.

Compost: Organics comprise nearly one-third of the materials found in the trash. Starting a food scraps program helps eliminate food from the trash and contributes to the creation of compost helping to conserve natural resources.

As North America’s largest provider of waste and environmental services, Waste Management is on a quest for environmental performance, to maximize resource value and minimize environmental impact. Waste is a valuable resource. Waste Management takes innovative steps to maximize and recover the resource that is in waste. To learn more information about Waste Management, visit http://www.wmorangecounty.com/ or www.thinkgreen.com. Or, engage with Waste Management on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information contact: Eloisa Orozco at 619-778-6303 or eorozco1@wm.com