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Recycle the Holidays

There's the pile of old electronics that got replaced with the newest version over the holidays.  The  toaster that no longer works, and the dead computer that's been collecting dust for years.  Random items that shouldn’t go in the trash, and can’t go into the recycling bin.  Items Eric Bradford says fall into the hard to recycle category.

Hard to recycle meansthere is very little need or want for that particular product, in the supply chain.” says Bradford,Asheville GreenWorks, Director of Operations,

Things like batteries, TVs, cell phones and appliances. Bradford is Director of Operations for Asheville GreenWorks.  The nonprofit has been supporting environmental education and action since the seventies.  Several times a year, they collect those hard to recycle items from the public.  And the effort is paying off, says Executive Director, Dawn Chavez:

“In 2016, for example we collected 107 thousand pounds, about 53 tons of materials. Those things have been kept out of the landfill.  It extends the life of the landfill.  These items are being made into new products, so it’s a win-win situation, all around,” says Chavez.

The first event is strategically scheduled for the post holiday clean out, for all people who got new cell phones and other electronics and aren’t sure what to do with the old one.  

Bradford says they also accept bulky block styrofoam packing, like the stuff that cushioned the new flatscreen TV Santa brought this year.

“This stuff is a byproduct of fuel making industry, and is able to be recycled, if you can just get it to us. So please bring us that styrofoam so we can breathe new life into it,” says Bradford.

HC: “Because if it goes to the landfill, will it just sit there?

Bradford, “It will sit there forever, there are estimates now,  over 100 thousand years, items will sit in a landfill and just be there for future generations to ask, why did we bury this?”

But repurposing styrofoam, pulling metal out of batteries, and taking apart television sets is tedious and often expensive work. And there are privacy concerns.

“The folks who have a laptop and they are hanging onto it, because they don’t want the data to go to just anyone, “ says Bradford, “we’re working with a  company who will work with them to destroy them and provide them with a legal document to say that it has been destroyed properly.”

Partners make it possible, says Bradford.  Along with a number of local companies that specialize in hard-to-recycles, Non profits like habitat for humanity and the Humane society will also be on site to collect used furniture, building supplies and other items.

“We’re happy that these items are coming to us, because we’re going to do the right thing with it,” says Bradford

HC:  Like that broken toaster. For WCQS News, I’m Helen Chickering

WHAT: Hard 2 Recycle Collection, Asheville GreenWorks

WHERE:           West Asheville, Parking Lot of Aaron's Rent to Own, 1298 Patton Ave. Asheville, NC 28806

WHEN:             Saturday, January 14, 2017 • 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Credit WCQS
Christine Brown, Asheville GreenWorks Environmental Educator

CBrownWebGreenworks.mp3
Can you recycle plastic forks? Plastic bags? While this event is collecting hard to recycles, during the interview, we learned a lot about regular recycling guidelines from Christine Brown, who is an environmental educator with Asheville GreenWorks.

Helen Chickering is a host and reporter on Blue Ridge Public Radio. She joined the station in November 2014.