Recycle, refurbish, reuse, responsible

by Sharlene Irete

sirete@recordcourier.com

Three truckloads of electronic equipment were hauled to ComputerCorps after Saturday's eCycle Day event in Minden.

"That's three truckloads of electronics that isn't going to end up in a landfill," said event organizer Karen Winters. "We had a great response from the community. We collected more at this event than last year. It was really a great success."

The electronics recycling event was sponsored by Soroptimist International of Carson Valley, Nevada State Bank and the law office of Karen L. Winters.

The electronic waste was collected by nonprofit ComputerCorps of Carson City.

"Our primary mission is to reuse electronic equipment," said ComputerCorps President Ron Norton. "We took in over a million pounds last year just at this facility. We tear down and rebuild computers and give back to the community at little or no cost."

ComputerCorps refurbishes computers and electronics and returns usable equipment to the community through its Every Home a Classroom program. The company provides families with computers while protecting the environment from electronic waste in community landfills.

ComputerCorps accepts operable and inoperable computers, printers, monitors, cell phones, telephones, toner and ink cartridges, copiers, fax machines, stereos, VCRs, cameras, software and manuals. TVs are not accepted.

ComputerCorps is at 6373 Highway 50 East in Carson City. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Information, 883-2323 or www.computercorps.org

Winters said she has been recycling through ComputerCorps for several years and wanted to help organize events to make it easy for others to recycle electronics.

"People brought in everything from small cell phones to very large graphics printers on Saturday," said Winters. "All parts are recyclable from the plastic to computer boards. Equipment that can still be used is refurbished and provided to low-income families through ComputerCorps.

"I like that ComputerCorps can wipe hard drives to the specs of the Department of Defense so people don't have to worry about identity theft when they recycle their computers."

She said thanks go to Nevada State Bank and ComputerCorps for stepping up and providing the place and trucks to have an eCycle Day. They hope to have another recycling event this fall.