Sustainability at SustainAbility
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Old things accumulate in modern households, don’t they? Do you still have an old VCR in a closet or attic? Remember it would blink 12:00 until you programmed it, which might have been never. A fax machine, cassette player, obsolete phones… oh, how great they were! Useless now, likely not even working, little anchors stuck in the tangle of what’s behind us. They shouldn’t go into the landfill, that’s for sure, the way old stuff decomposes and leaches out all kinds of toxins, not to mention the precious metals embedded in those circuits. But it costs money to properly dispose of them. A quandary.
By Stormy McDonald
Lakewood to the rescue!
The City of Lakewood is offering Lakewood residents a low-cost way to recycle electronic waste through August 31 with SustainAbility of Arvada. SustainAbility is a recycling, reuse & composting company. Lakewood will pay up to $30 for you to do the right thing with your e-waste. Fill out the Lakewood voucher form Hard to Recycle Materials – City of Lakewood, CO and receive your voucher ($30 value) via email. Use the LINK in the Voucher you receive to schedule your e-waste drop off date by Aug 31. Take e-waste to SustainAbility’s Hard-to-Recycle Center at 6340 W 56th Ave. Unit 3 Arvada, CO. Show staff member your voucher (screenshot, email, or paper) when you arrive to drop off. They will help you.
Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay
I recently toured the Arvada site with a group from Sustainable Southern Gables.1 It was impressive to see the many different kinds of items they take in and get to other organizations that reuse items or break them down and reuse valuable resources rather than put them into our landfills. They have a diverse workforce including those with disabilities, a significantly underemployed part of our society who were interested and eager to do their jobs.
SustainAbility of Arvada accepts an extensive list of electronic waste items. You can see the list and rules here: SustainAbility electronics recycling. Some items are accepted free, and others are accepted at 40 or 59 cents per pound. There are some unexpected quirks: for example smoke alarms are taken for $14.00 apiece. Batteries of some things are accepted within the item, and others are not; just check the list. Get started making your own list of items to recycle soon and get your voucher request in.
After you’ve gotten your e-waste in order, consider other things you might recycle there rather than sending to our landfills. They have two separate lists. Some items are on the $5.00 per bundle list and others are on the by weight or count. SustainAbility hard-to-recycle materials. Make another list of things you can eliminate from your household. You could take a whole carload of items! Our Ward 5 City Council Representative Paula Nystrom said she took a carload of the yard signs we see at election times for recycling and paid $5.00. How can you help our environment and enjoy Lakewood’s offer to help pay for this effort? Don’t put it off. The offer has an expiration date. Take action.
The following e-waste items are accepted free.
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computer towers |
Turntables (record players) |
The following items are accepted at a fee of 40 cents a pound.
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APC/UPS units |
PDA’s |
The following e-waste items are accepted for 59 cents a pound.
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computer monitors (flat screen & CRT) |
Just to mention, though we’re here to tell you about Lakewood’s $30 voucher for electronics recycling – SustainAbility Arvada accepts more than e-waste: they also take ITEMS THAT CAN BE REUSED and COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.
REUSE ITEMS
SustainAbility Arvada also has a $5 bundle fee which covers up to one standard moving box full of reuse materials. (Books are no charge, up to 10 boxes free.) Email ahead to arrange for larger volumes: info@sustainability-recycling.com
Quick reference list of reuse items: Books, Cameras (Digital & Film), Candle Wax, Film (Camera), Glasses & Sunglasses, Hand Tools, Hearing Aids, Paint Brushes, Keys, Pet Food (Canned), Plastic Silverware (packaged), Records (Vinyl), Shampoo, Conditioner, Lotion, Soap, Shoes (paired), Video Games.
COMPOST
SustainAbility Arvada provides pickup service for compostable material for $5 a week, or if that’s too often for your needs you can drop off up to 5 gallons for $5.
Don’t miss out on the Lakewood voucher for e-waste. Keep SustainAbility Arvada in mind for the other things they do, but the Lakewood offer for the e-waste $30 voucher expires August 31.
Stormy McDonald has been a Southern Gables resident since 2006. She is an avid conservationist, bindweed puller, and proponent of equality in education and employment. She is active in AAUW, St. Jude Church, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado, and Sustainable Southern Gables.
Theme image at top by Thomas from Pixabay
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