‘Mr. Trash Wheel’ Scoops Up PETA Award

If Everyone Follows Wheel’s Example, Animals Will be Saved, Says Group

For Immediate Release:
June 5, 2015

Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382

It’s a bad time for some Baltimore garbage haulers who are being indicted for corruption, but another city trash collector is garnering praise: Baltimore’s Mr. Trash Wheel. The solar- and water-powered wheel is receiving a Hero of the Harbor Award from PETA in recognition of everything it has done to make Baltimore’s Inner Harbor a safer, cleaner place for the fish and other animals who live there—including collecting 160 tons of garbage in less than a year.

“The aquatic life, from birds to fish, who live in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor have a much cleaner home now, and that’s thanks to Mr. Trash Wheel,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. “PETA hopes the splash Mr. Wheel has made will inspire others to recycle diligently and dispose of their trash properly.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—encourages everyone to crush their recyclable and nonrecyclable cans and cups and to cut through all plastic rings so that fish and other animals don’t become stuck in them. PETA also notes that garbage left behind by fishers, including discarded fishing line, is notorious for entangling and killing shoreline birds.

Mr. Trash Wheel will receive a framed certificate—along with a box of delicious fish-shaped vegan chocolates for his caretakers at Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, Inc., to enjoy.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk’s letter of thanks is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.