Organizers of the annual Recycling Drop-Off Day for Electronic Waste and Paper Shredding in Covington say the almost unbelievable numbers from the event have only one conclusion: People want to be “green.”
Just shy of 400 (398) cars dropped off material this year, almost triple the 160 that came by last year. They dropped off:
• 31,182 pounds of computers, TVs and other electronics (compared to 9,291 pounds last year).
• 11,000 pounds of confidential documents to be shredded (compared to 10,000 pounds).
• 400 pounds of cardboard (which wasn’t weighed last year).
“Our reaction was, ‘whoa – that’s a mountain of stuff,’ ” said Jen Barnett, president of Keep Covington Beautiful, which organized the event with the City of Covington’s Solid Waste & Recycling Division. “It was a great event and we diverted a LOT of e-waste from the landfill. We’re super stoked about not having all those chemicals poison the planet.”
The annual event was held Aug. 29 in the parking lot outside Holmes High School.
Electronic devices – which included everything from keyboards to printers to VCRs to cell phones – are being disassembled and recycled by Cleanlites. Shred It, a company certified by the National Association of Information Destruction, is shredding the confidential documents and turning that product into new paper.
Stephanie Bacher, Covington’s Solid Waste & Recycling Supervisor, said organizers were thrilled that the event – now in its fifth year – continues to grow in participation.
“We’re encouraged by the response of Covington residents and their willingness to do their part to save the planet when we set up events like this,” Bacher said. “We hope to build off this enthusiasm and expand the frequency and type of events to more safely dispose of even more toxic and problematic materials.”
