Electronics Recycling: An Overwhelming Response
Eighty-four TON of electronic recyclables collected in 6 hours on Saturday during Habitat ReStore’s Earth Day Celebration!
The Habitat ReStore knew that it would draw a crowd on Saturday for its first ever Electronics Recycling Event, but they had no idea that the response would be this powerful. “In the six hours that the ReStore accepted drop-offs from residents in our community, we collected over 84 tons of old electronics - that’s enough to fill eight full-sized semitrailers to the brim.” said Amy Ristow, Associate Director of Habitat for Humanity.
The recycling event came during the midst of the ReStore’s annual community-wide Earth Day celebration which draws a big enough crowd on its own. Although it rained through most of the event, many people stopped by to learn about going Green, sampled on some delicious locally grown food, and browsed through local Green vendors.
Thanks to generous contributions from Samsung, CRT Processing, and the Schneider National Foundation, the ReStore was able to collect old electronics to be recycled at no cost to the customer. “Typically electronics are charged at least $5-10 to be recycled, much more for larger items like console televisions.” said Ristow. Thousands upon thousands of items were dropped off at the ReStore on Saturday, leaving many volunteers wondering just how many items they unloaded, and then loaded into semis.
The rain did not prevent people from dropping of their televisions that resembled tables, computers older than a lot of the volunteers, microwaves that had stains from the eighties, or even the predecessor to the cell phone: bag phones. Cars were backed up for up to twenty minutes at some times between 9am and 3pm.
The ReStore had expected to fill two or three trailers at most, but within a half hour of beginning, they knew that they had grossly underestimated just how many people would turnout for the event. The response from the public was so great that the ReStore had to wait on more trailers until Sunday morning. Volunteers worked tirelessly from 9am until 4pm on Sunday. A skeleton crew was even needed Monday to assure the last bits of electronics would be ready for processing.
Through generous sponsorships from Samsung, CRT Processing, and Schneider National Foundation, the processing and transportation costs were covered. The Community Foundation’s Environmental Stewardship Fund also provided some funding needed to prepare for the event. Even with this financial support, the Habitat ReStore still incurred expenses for marketing, supplies, security and the like.
While there was no fee associated with the event, the Habitat ReStore was taking donations for the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity. “Unfortunately, due to the chaos caused by the extremely large turnout, making monetary donations was not on anyone’s mind once they got to the front of one of the drop-off lines.” said Ristow. “One volunteer estimated that if the store had asked for even just $1 for each item they received that day, Habitat for Humanity would probably have an extra $20,000 to build simple, decent, affordable houses with families in need.”
If you are doing some Spring cleaning, don’t forget to keep the Habitat ReStore in mind for any of your home construction and remodeling materials you don’t want or use anymore. The ReStore takes in new and used, salvaged and donated building and home improvement supplies and sells them to the public at much reduced prices. All money made by the ReStore is used by Habitat for Humanity to build houses with lower-income homeowners in the Greater Fox Cities area. For more information, visit their website at www.appletonrestore.org
