Thursday, February 26, 2004
From the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: I've heard that there were only two curbside recycling
programs in the country in the early 1970s. Where were they and
how many are there now?
-Emerick, Chicago, IL
According to Neil Seldman, president of the Institute for Local
Self-Reliance, a non-profit that promotes sustainable communities,
the first two programs were in Madison, Wisconsin and Marblehead,
Massachusetts. Seldman says that many cities had source separation
in the 1940s, largely because of the war effort, but that these
efforts fizzled after the war.
In 1967, Madison was the first city to re-establish curbside newspaper
collection, by installing special racks on garbage trucks. Madison
Street Superintendent Roger Goodwin says the pioneering newspaper
program got started because the city was running out of landfill
space. Madison also built one of the first waste-to-energy plants
in 1974 for the same reason.
Marblehead Director of Public Health Wayne Attridge says its curbside
program, which began in 1973 with the first Earth Day as inspiration,
included bottles, cans and newspapers. "It was definitely innovative,"
Attridge says. The local League of Women Voters launched the program,
aided by the nation's first Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
recycling grant.
There are now close to 9,000 curbside programs, which aid in the
recycling of 42 percent of all paper used, 40 percent of all plastic
soft drink bottles, and 55 percent of all aluminum cans, according
to the EPA's Office of Municipal Solid Waste. There are at least
600 curbside programs in Wisconsin and 156 in Massachusetts today.
New York City made news in July of 2002 when Mayor Michael Bloomberg
put the City's curbside recycling program (for everything except
paper) on hold for 18 months. Bloomberg reasoned that the project
would save the City $56.6 million annually, and that 40 percent
of the metal, glass and plastic collected was ultimately ending
up in the trash anyway. But, according to the Natural Resources
Defense Council, New York City's big savings failed to materialize,
and the plastics recycling program resumed in July 2003. Glass recycling,
as well as weekly pickups, will start again in April 2004.
Related Links
Institute for Local Self-Reliance, (202) 232-4108
Natural Resources Defense Council, (212) 727-2700
Dear EarthTalk: Where can one recycle computer equipment that is
out of date or broken and not worth upgrading or fixing?
-Kenneth Rapp, Toms River, New Jersey
According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 315 million computers
are expected to become obsolete by the end of 2004. Given the lightening
speed of computer technology, some environmental groups estimate
the average lifespan of a computer is only three years.
A discarded computer reeks of environmental hazards. Not only will
plastic components sit in landfills for hundreds of years, toxic
materials are used to create computers, including lead used in monitors.
Instead of throwing your old computer away, consider donating it
to one of many re-use programs or recycling programs throughout
the country. The California-based Computer Recycling Center (CRC)
began collecting used computers in 1991, and they claim to have
diverted six million pounds of computer waste from landfills in
2002 alone. If your computer is still functional, CRC's Computers
& Education program takes computer donations and provides refurbished
computers to public schools, and community non-profits. CRC is a
local program, so if you can't drop off your old machine, you'll
have to pay for shipping.
Look for recycling programs in your community. Brokers like American
Computer Exchange in Georgia are national programs that will take
your hardware for trade on a newer model. It is becoming more common
for computer manufacturers to have their own recycling programs.
Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Planet Partners recycling service will pickup,
transport, and recycle any brand of computer equipment or HP printing
supplies. As an incentive to recycle, HP will give you $50 towards
the purchase of a new product when you return old computer products
to the company. HP's recycling facilities processes more than three
million pounds of used equipment each month. Ink cartridges and
disk use both generate significant waste. HP's Planet Partners LaserJet
Supplies Program has helped recycle more than 39 million HP LaserJet
cartridges worldwide since 1992, which equates to approximately
50,000 tons of material diverted from landfill.
GreenDisk, a Washington State-based company that recycles used
disks, estimates that more than 10 billion old disks and CDs will
need a resting place over the next five years. GreenDisk's Personal
Electronics Program helps individuals, businesses, and government
agencies recycle small amounts of electronic waste, including CDs,
diskettes, videos, inkjet and toner cartridges, and cell phones.
You'll receive a "Certificate of Destruction" that guarantees
your intellectual property has been destroyed, and all physical
materials have been disposed of in an environmentally responsible
manner.
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