In establishing this award WM wishes to recognize communities throughout Canada for their achievements in developing initiatives toward environmentally responsible practices and sustainability. Criteria for this award include environmental efforts made by municipalities, businesses and citizens of a community in the areas of waste reduction and recycling initiatives and conservation and naturalization projects.

Waste Management and Communities in Bloom also announced the City of Kelowna, British Columbia as this year's recipient of the Environmental Awareness award. Honourable mentions in this criteria were also given to the following communities: City of North Bay, ON; Town of Bala, ON; Ville de Rosemère, QC; Town of Birtle, MB; City of Tsukuba, Japan, and; Ville de Montréal, QC.

"Waste Management is proud to be a national sponsor of Communities in Bloom and the Environmental Awareness Award," said Dan Pio, President, Waste Management of Canada. "We are committed to environmental stewardship - it is the cornerstone of what we do. We embrace opportunities to promote responsible, environmentally sound waste management solutions within Canadian communities."

This year, Communities in Bloom will be marking the 10th anniversary of its national awards ceremonies. Raymond Carriere, CIB national chairmen stated that, "The sponsors and organizers of Communities in Bloom wish to ensure that environmental responsibility is extended beyond the boundaries of participating city, town, village and rural areas. We want to establish new levels of awareness and create a sense of community pride throughout Canada - the national awards program helps us achieve these initiatives."

As Canada's leading provider of comprehensive waste management services, Waste Management offers state-of-the-art residential, commercial and industrial collection, recycling and disposal services throughout the country. Waste Management of Canada employs over 3,000 people at 116 locations in 8 provinces, servicing 4.5 million residential customers and 170,000 industrial and commercial customers. The Company owns and/or operates 20 recycling recovery facilities and 18 landfills. www.wm.com

Communities in Bloom (CIB) is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community participation and national competitions. www.communitiesinbloom.ca