Thank You Participants in our E-Waste Collection!

​by Andrew Donahue
Thank you! Thank you for coming out and responsibly getting rid of your e-waste instead of taking the easy way out and dumping it illegally! On America Recycles Day, November 15, we held a special electronics collection, and the community responded.

Electronics have been banned from the landfill in Vermont since January 2011 so it is important be part of the solution by finding where you can bring your e-waste instead of being part of the problem and ILLEGALLY dumping your waste.  Find out more about the ban of e-waste at the state website. I know from my short time here serving at the Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District that everyone who works here truly cares about what they do and trying to protect our environment.  So, when we get a big turnout such as we did on America Recycles Day at our special e-waste collection it means a lot to see how many people are actively trying to recycle responsibly and protect this planet and we are glad we can help.
From my perspective, it was a great day.  First off, it was great to see how many people came.  We counted roughly 163 car loads, and these were not small cars.  We unloaded several truck beds that were practically over flowing and I was impressed by how much stuff some people could cram into their sedans.  It was a lot of work and an extremely busy day but that’s what we were planning for and that is exactly what we wanted.
We saw items such as 40-year-old computers, massive TVs and many obscure little items.  Some people had been sitting on piles of items for years waiting for an opportunity to get rid of it appropriately. .  Overall, we collected about 40 pallets of e-waste which we estimate to be between 15,000 to 20,000 lbs., meaning, you guys were able to keep that much material out of our landfill.
However, if you were unable to make the event, or you forgot something in your garage, there is no need to worry.   Our Additional Recyclables Collection Center (ARCC, where we held the event) is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 6pm and the third Saturday of the month from 9am-1pm and we are always accepting TVs, computers and computer peripherals for FREE.  We also take paint, batteries and bulbs free of charge and other items such as clothes, shoes, books, scrap metal and three dozen other hard to recycle items at $3 a car load.  So clean out your attic, garage or barn and fill up those trucks and come visit us at the ARCC.
 
Andrew Donahue is an Eco-Americorps member serving as an outreach assistant about Act 148 for the hard-working Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District for one year.  He hopes his year of service brings a positive environmental impact to the area.