What’s the best way to celebrate Earth Day? By doing your part to reduce your impact on the environment! Join us at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards on Wednesday April, 22, 2015 from 8:30am-12:00pm to celebrate Earth Day. Do you have OLD electronics that don’t work or are obsolete? Is your pile of paper to SHRED and recycle growing? Bring them by on Earth Day and our sponsors will make sure they get disposed of properly and safely.
Event Information:
When: Wednesday, April 22, 8:30am to 12:30pm
Where: Colorado Mountain College, Edwards Campus
Cost: E-waste is .50/lb and Paper Shredding is $5/banker box (Max. of 4 boxes/person) CASH ONLY
Questions?: Melissa Kirr for more information melissak@walkingmountains.org or call (970) 827-9725 x133
The E-waste and Shredding Earth Day event is presented by Aprisent Financial. Supporting sponsors include: Blue Star Recyclers, Colorado Document Securities and Vail Honeywagon.
Below is information on why recycling E-waste and shredding paper are important!
Why Shred? It’s the Law!
Today, most firms and businesses have security programs in place to guard against identity theft and protect corporate information. But it’s not that easy for an individual or household to find a place to shred and recycle their personal information. It is important to take precautions with personal proprietary information.
Businesses and households face their greatest risk when confidential records have not been destroyed. They cannot control what they no longer have in their possession. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that once records are placed in a dumpster you no longer have ownership, therefore they become public property and anyone has legal rights to access them. Confidential records that have been tossed into a dumpster or transferred to a recycler are fair targets for the media looking for a headline or a thief seeking to steal proprietary information, technology, or personal identities.
Environmental Stewardship – For Every Ton of Paper Recycled You Save:
• 17 trees.
• 7000 gallons of water.
• 84 gallons of oil.
• 4100 kilowatts of energy (enough to power the average American home for 6 months).
• Three cubic yards of limited landfill space.
• 60 pounds less of air pollutants (carbon dioxide).
Why Recycle E-waste?
There are many compelling reasons to recycle obsolete electronic equipment, including protection of sensitive information and avoidance of environmental liability. Plus it’s illegal to dump in the landfill!
1. Is it illegal to dispose of electronics in landfills?
In Colorado, electronics are classified as hazardous waste, so local regulations dictate that any electronic waste from non-residential sources (businesses, government agencies, etc.) cannot be disposed of in solid waste landfills. Electronic waste must be disposed of at a hazardous waste facility or recycled. Please see the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website for more information.
2. What are the hazards of discarding my old electronics with the rest of my trash?
Electronics contain pollutants such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, phosphorous, lithium, and polycarbons. Electronics that are dumped in the trash often end up in landfills, where these substances can leach into the groundwater and soil. Flame retardant chemicals in computer plastics can release highly toxic dioxins when burned in trash incinerators.
3. What are the benefits of recycling versus resale? If a computer is working, then it’s still useful, right?
Although resale and reuse is sometimes an option, in most cases the current pace of technology has rendered many working systems obsolete. Resale and donation simply pass the disposal problem to another party, often someone less well-equipped to deal with it properly. The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment even warns “not to attempt to “dump” your old, unusable equipment on these entities in an effort to avoid your own waste management responsibilities.”
Recycling equipment is the best choice once it has reached the end of its useful life. It keeps toxic compounds out of our landfills and helps to conserve our natural resources.
4. What are the issues regarding the export of electronic waste?
A lot of American electronic waste is exported to developing countries which typically lack the capability to recycle it properly. This form of ‘recycling’ has resulted in large scale environmental and public health damage in a number of Asian and Latin American countries.
5. What is the recycling process?
All material is demanufactured through Blue Star Recyclers on the Front Range. Demanufacturing involves taking apart and separating all electronic devices into four distinct material streams: precious metals, other metals, plastics, and glass. The process typically results in the diversion of 95% of materials from landfills and incinerators.
6. Where does it all go?
The materials are sent for the reintroduction into manufacturing processes.
7. What can be recycled?
Virtually any obsolete electronic equipment, if it has a circuit board we can probably recycle it. We handle everything from large copiers to PDA’s, old televisions, computer monitors, alarm clocks, stereo equipment and printers. Laptops, tablets, old cell phones, DVD and VCR players also. No item is too small or large.
