An in-depth look at the beginning of a movement recognizing the men and women working in the waste industry.

Several years ago, John Arwood, created a special day to invite the nation to celebrate those who work in the waste industry and to raise awareness for our garbage men and women that make our cities and homes livable. He wanted not only waste and recycling companies to recognize their employees, but also cities, towns and neighborhoods across America to appreciate their trash collectors as well. Now, this day has grown into a full-blown celebration of the importance of what they bring to the community.

How long have you been in the industry? I started to do waste removal when I was a kid with my dad, who worked for Bethlehem steel, which was a large company that manufactured paint for fuel companies across America here in Jacksonville, FL. Over the years, I would go with him and his managers and they would do side jobs on the weekend, like roofing and concrete, painting, etc. and I was there as a helper. When I was 10, they would let me come into Bethlehem Steel’s facility and sweep the floors, throw stuff in the dumpsters, etc. I started asking about knocking the flux off of the welders that they used for the paint at the plant and then I would turn around and sell the excess metal at the scrap yards. As I became older, I started putting up signs around town that said, “light hauling and junk removal” and I had a pickup truck that I used. The largest homebuilder in Jacksonville called me and asked me to clean the trash from the homes. They had dumpsters but people were filling them up and it was costing too much money. After I started doing that, my dad quit his job to help me and the whole family started picking up trash and hauling in pickup trucks and trailers. Then another homebuilder called me and I bought a roll-off—that’s how I got into the garbage business.

What was your mission in starting National Garbage Man Day? My mission is to bring more recognition to those that work in the industry. I feel that those in the waste industry are looked down upon. I have a lot of police and firemen friends and it dawned on me that people really recognize the value of those professions. I think that someone in the garbage industry is just as valuable as they are, so I started researching and found that it is the second deadliest industry and in some countries, it is the deadliest. In addition, I had recently been at Disney World in one of the gift shops and even there they have Mickey Mouse as a fireman or policeman, but nothing to represent the garbage industry. I ended up meeting with Reedy Creek Plantation, which Disney owns and manages, and now Disney recognizes National Garbage Man Day and they are actually going before the board to propose to have Mickey doing something with a garbage truck. It’s ironic because Disneyworld has the most sophisticated waste and recycling facilities in America, but they don’t recognize it as a profession. It officially started as a special day in 2013, got out there through word of mouth from drivers to kids that want to be a garbage person—and it received its first proclamation from Prince William County, VA in 2014. There are now more than 400 proclamations across the U.S.

Why do you call it a National Garbage Man Day when it is actually the week of June 17? When I got the idea, I had built the site for it and I looked at the calendar and there wasn’t any major events going on that week. I thought, “Hey, it’s a hot time of the year, people could give out bottles of water, etc.” It started as one day and has grown to the week because some cities had complained that June 17 was a day they picked up garbage and they couldn’t effectively honor their employees. There were others that called to confirm the actual date. So, I decided we should just make it a weeklong celebration rather than just one day.

How has it grown over the last several years? We have more than 1,000 people that have subscribed to the site and over 7,000 Facebook followers. All I’m trying to do with this is to recognize those men and women that work hard in the industry, especially when they are out there early in the morning picking up garbage. When you see them the week of June 17, give them a bottle of water as a thank you, at Christmas, give them a card, go to the landfill and thank the scale house director, thank your city’s solid waste director. We have a Chick-Fil-A in Jacksonville, FL that if a garbage person comes into the location with their uniform on, their coffee is free. It’s also a chance for the upper management to recognize their employees as an asset instead of just looking at them as just a number and do something for them. Many people look at the garbage truck drivers like they couldn’t get another job or they are uneducated, but if you go to GarbageManDay.org, you have gas-to-energy, which was actually invented in the waste industry, truck technology such as hydraulics, robotics, etc. What people in the garbage industry have invented goes on and on. When there is bad weather or natural disasters that need to be cleaned up, they are the first ones that are out there—a lot of times before the police. Every year this special week is slowly getting larger and larger. National Garbage Man Day started out as word of mouth and that is still the largest part of it. Magazines like you that sponsor it, SWANA, NWRA are all on board with it—that is a big help.

What is the Wall of Honor/Change Makers on the site? Many people go on the Wall of Honor to call out safety awards, memoriams, truck shows, etc. at no cost. The Wall of Honor was started through someone asking if I would build a page recognizing these accomplishments. It was put up the first year of Garbage Man Day. For the Change Makers, I wanted to recognize the icons of the industry, and it turned into a page to get their boss recognized.

What kind of marketing materials, programs, ideas do you offer people who would like to participate in this special week? Some people buy the t-shirts, stickers, cakes, etc. in support of National Garbage Man Day. I’ve even had a request from people on how to throw a garbage-themed birthday party. This year, we have a campaign blast going out to more than 100,000 people that says the week is coming up. I am going to suggest for that week that everyone go in and change their profile picture on Facebook to the National Garbage Man Day logo in support of this special time. Last year, some people were changing it and I would like it to grow into a larger movement

What are the future plans for National Garbage Man Day? I see National Garbage Man Day becoming something that is recognized across the globe, so I started Global Garbage Man Day last year because waste companies send me stuff in Arabic and other languages. People in other countries actually recognize the day and have a link on their Web site. For example, Biffa in the U.K., there is one in China, India and Australia.

I also started the Truck Show last year here in Florida because people kept sending pictures in to post their trucks. I ended up making the online process automated because I would run out of time to put them up. There are some neat trucks out there.

David Biderman is also trying to get a legislation passed through Washington, DC to make it an actual holiday and one of the executives at Waste Management e-mailed me and asked for my help on that task as well. It is still in the works. Ultimately, I just want the one day for this industry to be recognized in a positive way.

For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.garbagemanday.org.

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