Fuller Middle School students to host recycling drive for eWaste

The Panthenators, Fuller Middle School’s Robotics and Green Team, will be conducting an electronics recycling drive this Saturday, March 2, from 9 a.m. to noon. They will have pallets (courtesy of Waste Management) set up in the front driveway of Fuller Middle School (808 E. Dixon Road Little Rock, AR 72206). Volunteers, including principals, teachers and students will operate a drive-through unloading service, removing the items from each vehicle and carefully placing them on pallets for collection. There will be boxes for smaller items such as cell phones and batteries.

What can be recycled?

Computers: (CPUs, Monitors, laptops, keyboards, mice, etc)
PDAs, calculators, cell phones, MP3 players and other similar small electronics
Copy machines, scanners, printers and fax machines
VCRs, DVD players and stereos
TVs, microwaves and batteries

Why recycle old electronics?

Electronic devices contain cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury, chromium, barium, beryllium and brominated flame-retardant materials that can pollute air and water quality if not disposed of properly. In addition, electronics contain valuable metals that can be stripped before disposal to be used again in new electronics. Finally, some used electronics can be refurbished and donated to other areas of the world where the ease and affordability of such electronics aren’t as prevalent as in the USA. According to the EPA, eWaste is growing at a rate of 3-4 times normal municipal waste. Many people are not aware of the danger of just throwing these items to the curb. For example, one CRT monitor can contain as much as 7 pounds of lead, which has major toxicity and can be very harmful to humans.

What can you do to help?

This is a district wide event, put together by the students, parents and teachers of FMS. However, we are hoping to have support from all areas of the district.

Volunteer to help unload items in the drive-through for an hour or two. Wear your school gear and have some fun!
Spread the word to your students and parents — send an email, write it in a newsletter or do an “all call.”
Bring your out-dated or broken technology items to be recycled.

Please let Mr. Brent Mitchell (bmitchell@pcssd.org) or Mrs. Sandra Leiterman (sleiterman1909@pcssd.org) know how many people from your school will be attending.

Published on February 26th, 2013