Sam’s Club in Jackson partnered with Recycling Jackson for an e-waste event earlier in the year. Yesterday, we partnered up again, and kept a whole bunch of electronic waste from going in to a landfill. Or did we?
A lot of the material we saw today came from some large organizations that apparently had this material somewhere. Some of the old relics included dot matrix printers, copiers last used in 1997, some 386 computers, and I even saw some kind of cash register/adding machine that had to be from the 60s.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it showed up today, and I know it’s going to a better place. I would just be curious where it came from. Organizations updating their hardware is understandable. One donator today said that there will come a time where disposing of a CRT monitor would require “an act of God.” It was funny, but as I saw old, outdated material roll in throughout the day, I wondered how much was left.
What do large businesses, government entities, schools, community organizations, and mom and pop still have laying around? Where is it being stored? One individual commented today when they saw a government sticker on the side of a very full truck, “are my tax dollars going toward storing that old stuff?” I don’t have the answer, but it seems like a logical question.
Back to the question of did we really keep a bunch of electronic waste from going in to a landfill. From the contributions today, the answer is a definite yes. From the items left behind, the answer may be no. Does an event such as today’s increase awareness, or make someone decide their storeroom is due to be emptied?
Will those that decide that today is the day to rid their life of electronic waste do it properly, or just figure their items will be “ok” in the regular garbage?
[by David Milis, RJ board member/Sam's Club employee]
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