This year’s Millbrae Art & Wine Festival will take on a distinctively “green” hue. Recently designated a “Cool City” by the Sierra Club, the City of Millbrae will join forces with South San Francisco Scavenger and the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce to promote and emphasize recycling and composting by both attendees and vendors during the popular Labor Day Weekend festival, August 30-31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Broadway.

“We’re excited about this “greening” initiative and, as a leader in the community, we’re committed to making the festival as eco-friendly as possible – we’ve stepped up our efforts and it’s a big priority for us,” said John Ford, President/CEO of the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve made it easier than ever and hope that festivalgoers and vendors will support our effort to conserve resources by recycling and composting.”

Festival food vendors have been encouraged to use recyclable and compostable food ware. Containers will be made available to food vendors for composting left-over food scraps including meat and bones, paper plates, cups, chopsticks, skewers and napkins. This material will be collected and added to South San Francisco Scavenger’s existing Commercial Composting collection program.

“We’re delighted and pleased to expand this program with the Chamber of Commerce,” said Millbrae Mayor Marc Hershman. “It fits in with our efforts to create a sustainable community, will help to promote recycling and will reduce the amount of garbage placed in landfills.”

Recycling is another major component of the “greening” effort. For the first time, the festival will be serving beer in bio-degradable plastic cups. Free-standing containers will be positioned throughout the festival route for recycling glass bottles, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans with separate containers for cardboard and mixed paper.

The festival is also encouraging the use of public transportation to minimize carbon emissions and reduce vehicular traffic. Free shuttle service will be available from the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station to the south end of the festival, dropping off and picking up riders every twenty minutes.

South San Francisco Scavenger is a leading integrated solid waste management company in the Bay Area offering debris box, recycling and garbage services for residential and commercial customers. For additional information, please go to: http://www.ssfscavenger.com.