By: CHRISTINE AIKEN
Staff Writer
Recycling is a resource conservation issue that affects us all. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9 the seventh annual E-Waste Recycling Fest takes place.
Mike Keen is the Director of the Center for a Sustainable Future at IU South Bend.
“It is the most popular and well attended event held on campus each year. It’s a half day sustainability celebration where the main activity is diverting your electronic waste from the landfill and back into the manufacturing stream in a fun and painless way,” Keen said.
Items that can be brought to the event for recycling include computer systems, computer accessories, handheld devices and televisions.
There is no charge for this event, which will be located at the parking lot on the corner of Vine Street and South 20th Street.
“It’s a great way for the community to come together and place an importance on safe and environmentally-friendly ways to dispose unwanted items in their homes,” IU South Bend student and sustainability intern Breezy McCall said.
Since the inception of this annual event, more than one million lbs of electronic waste has been collected that would have otherwise wound up in a landfill. At last year’s event, over 270,000 lbs of electronics were collected from more than 1,600 vehicles over the course of two days.
Assistant Director of the Center for a Sustainable Future, Trish Linner, wanted to thank those who support the event.
“This event would not be possible without the support of Apple, Inc. who provides the recycling services and our sustainability students who volunteer to help direct traffic, unload items and keep the day running smoothly,” she said. “We are proud to offer the service to the Michiana community, and hope everyone will take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of old electronics in a safe and sustainable way.”
The items collected at the E-Waste event are kept secure until they are delivered to a shredder, which grinds the items up into small pieces, sorts them into material streams and sends them back into the manufacturing stream. You will not need to erase or remove any hard drives, as the data cannot be retrieved once it is destroyed in the shredding process.
Businesses and organizations will also have an opportunity to recycle their unwanted electronics from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 8 at the same location. Businesses will need to pre-register for the event, while the general public will not.
You don’t have to be Captain Planet to be a superhero in the fight for a sustainable future.
