Above: Flat-screen TVs, printers, scanners, air conditioners, light fixtures even – all were dropped off at Saturday’s e-waste event.
It started with a thought: How best to celebrate Earth Day? Members of the East Greenwich Rotary teamed up with the EG Chamber, Cartridge World and Office Recycling Solutions and decided to hold an electronics recycling day. The event took place last Saturday at New England Tech and it was a big success, netting 8.75 tons (that’s 17,563 lbs!) of old printers, TVs, air conditioners, monitors, tablets, computers – even a lamp or two. You could drop off anything with a plug. And the cost? They just asked for donations – which they got. Including sponsorships, the event raised upwards of $2,500, which will go to the East Greenwich Tree Council, a volunteer group dedicated to protecting and replenishing the town’s “urban canopy.”
The Rotary Club’s young Rotaract Club (made up of students), collected foodstuffs at the drive – filling 13 containers to donate to the food bank. In three short hours, more than 300 cars visited the drive-through operation.
The idea behind the recycling event, said Harry Waterman of Cartridge World, was to “help educate the public about where the electronic items can go so they don’t go into the waterways, they don’t go into the landfill, they don’t go into garbage dumpsters.”
He added, “This is the first annual drive. We want people to know we will be back next year.”
I thought that I read at the top of this news page last Friday that this event had been cancelled???
Sorry for any confusion. The HHNA clean up on Sunday had been cancelled due to the rain (it’s been rescheduled for this Sunday, 5/2).