Don’t Be E-Wasteful! Recycle Your Old Electronics.

Don’t be e-wasteful! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and Blue Star Recyclers are hosting an Electronics Recycling Event at the Zoo on Saturday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

You’re in the habit of recycling glass, plastic, paper and cardboard. Why not take the next step and recycle your e-waste? Electronic waste can be classified as anything with a cord or that can be plugged in. Computers, keyboards, printers/fax machines, bread makers, audio/visual equipment, cameras, cell phones…when discarded, these items are considered e-waste. Maybe you just tossed them in the trash in the past, but now it’s more important than ever that you don’t! Here’s why: 

• After a new law goes into effect July 1, 2013, Colorado residents will no longer be able to place the following electronics in the trash for disposal: computers, monitors, DVD players, laptops, notebooks, tablets, printers/fax machines, VCRs, televisions, devices with a cathode ray tube and flat panel screens larger than 4 inches. 
• The nation now dumps between 300 million and 400 million electronic items per year, and less than 20% of that e-waste is recycled.
• E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. 
• Only 15% of the population recycles their computers, which means the other 85% ends up in landfills.
• E-waste is the largest source of lead in solid waste.
• E‐waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in the US.
• Animal habitats are being drastically affected by the lack of e-waste recycling.
• Approximately 50 million cell phones alone are replaced worldwide each month, only 10% of those are recycled. The production of cell phones directly impacts gorillas. Columbite-tantalite (coltan) is a crucial metal needed for cell phone manufacturing, but the extraction of this metal is devastating to gorilla habitat.

Be part of the solution by taking these steps!

1. This Saturday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. bring your old unused electronics to our annual E-Waste Recycling event. Items will be collected in the parking lot at the Zoo. Most recyclables will be taken free of charge. More complicated and toxic products like televisions, computer monitors, printers, florescent light bulbs and alkaline batteries will be taken for a small fee. Fees range from $5 for printers/fax machines to $25 for televisions over 25”. For a full list of free items, fee items or for more information, visit http://cmzoo.org/docs/E-WasteRecyclingEvent2013.pdf.
   
   
2. The Zoo collects and recycles cell phones, batteries and ink cartridges every day of the year. Bring your recyclable items to a Zoo admission booth between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.  The collected items are shipped to companies that recycle them, and in turn contribute funds to our animal conservation programs.
   
   
3. Share this information with your friends, co-workers and family. If we recycled just one million cell phones, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.

Sources – Wikipedia.org & dosomething.org