Last Saturday, the IT Services department and the Wabash Environmental Concerns Committee sponsored a Community Computer Recycle Day. Wabash faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the greater Crawfordsville community, could drop of obsolete computers, monitors, printers, and related technology equipment at no cost. The equipment was collected and will be recycled by RecycleForce of Indianapolis.
We had a great turnout, and the event was a big success. We completely filled a semi trailer, and had to load additional equipment on a supply truck. In all, we collected 19,810 pounds of equipment, or just under ten tons! Thanks to everyone who took the time on Saturday to bring in equipment. The amount certainly exceeded my expectations. The picture above shows the inside of the semi trailer; see the photo album for more pictures from the day.
The event fit well with the goals of the Wabash Environmental Concerns Committee, which seeks to find ways for Wabash to incorporate an environmental perspective into its decision-making and its daily operations. Further, the committee seeks to link the College’s actions with those of our wider Crawfordsville and regional communities, so opening the recycle day to all of Crawfordsville was important.
According to the EPA, computer monitors contain an average of four pounds of lead. In addition to lead, electronics can contain chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc, and brominated flame retardants. When electronics are not disposed of or recycled properly, these toxic materials can present problems. It’s hard to imagine the world-wide impact when you consider how much stuff we collected in this small town in west-central Indiana.
It takes a lot of people to pull together an event like this. Jamie Ross, IT Services office manager, who coordinated this event for Wabash, Ginny Maharry (Lilly Library) and Mike Heinold (IT Services), who helped with traffic flow and loading equipment, and Gary Leonard (Campus Services) who ran the fork lift and moved equipment onto the trucks. I’m especially thankful to Andy Bradley, from Bradley Trucking in Ladoga, who donated the use of his semi trailer and his time to deliver the equipment to RecycleForce in Indianapolis.
We are planning to make this an annual event, so if you missed out this weekend you’ll have another chance next fall.
