AtWork! plugs in to statewide electronics recycling effort
August 2, 2011
Evergreen State consumers recycle old electronics by the bushel — more than 100 million pounds of outmoded computers, monitors and televisions since January 2009.
The haul is equal in weight to 181 fully loaded Boeing 787s.
Some 400,000 pounds of the statewide tally started as drop-offs to AtWork! The nonprofit organization helps connect employers and people with disabilities.
AtWork! operates a recycling center in Issaquah. The organization started collecting electronics in 2009 as the state rolled out E-Cycle Washington, a program to collect old electronics.
“That 200 tons of electronics has translated to more than $65,000 in revenue for our organization,” said Andrea Simmonds, director of development for Bellevue-based AtWork! “For us, every dollar that’s made in one of our social-enterprise businesses is a dollar that we can plow back into our mission of helping people with disabilities to find jobs in the community. So, for us, it’s kind of a win-win situation. We get to help the environment and it helps our ability to execute our mission.”
The organization sends, on average, two full trailers to E-Cycle Washington for processing twice each month.
Liberty PTSA plans electronics recycling drive
May 3, 2011
The Liberty High School PTSA’s electronics recycling drive is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 at Briarwood Market Place, at the corner of 164th Street Southeast and Southeast 128th Street. It will be in the back parking lot behind Doofers Bar & Grill.
Accepted items include working and broken electronics, appliances, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, batteries, fitness equipment, medical equipment, lawnmowers and barbecues.
Volunteers will collect the items, and Issaquah nonprofit 1 Green Planet will haul away the collections. Donating is free, but the Liberty PTSA appreciates monetary donations as well.
Off the Press
April 5, 2011
Recycling in Issaquah is a not-so-dirty job
My grandma spoils my sweet tooth. For holidays, birthdays or just for a lark, she’ll whip up a chocolate cherry cake or a marble pound cake, box it and mail it across the whole county, straight to me.
Laura Geggel Press reporter
Her famous kiffles — thin dough wrapped around a bounty of nuts and jelly — always disappear quickly, but the packaging peanuts stick around, and not just static-electricity wise.
For years, I am ashamed to admit, I would throw them away. In my defense, I didn’t know what to do with them. I would reuse them if I could, but it wasn’t often I needed packaging peanuts to send presents.
Now. as an avid recycler, I know just what to do with packaging peanuts. The UPS Store on Northwest Gilman Boulevard will take and reuse them. The store also recycles bubble wrap, another helpful packaging tool that often gets tossed into the trash once its work is done.
Now that I have a venue to recycle packaging material, I started thinking of places I could recycle other things, like plastic bags, cellphones or alkaline batteries.
It turns out that Issaquah is a haven for recycling just about everything.
Residents dump old electronics for E-Cycle Washington
January 12, 2011
NEW — 2 p.m. Jan. 12, 2011
Evergreen State residents recycled 39.5 million pounds of outdated TVs, computers and monitors last year through the E-Cycle Washington program.
The total recycled material beat the amount recycled in 2009 — 38.5 million pounds. Discarded televisions comprised 61 percent of the total.
The state passed legislation in 2006 to require manufacturers and the Department of Ecology to establish and run a statewide system to collect and recycle electronics. Manufacturers fund the program.
Before the program launched, many old electronics ended up in landfills. The result is a potential mountain of wasted resources — and toxic runoff.
Recycle appliances and electronics for free
November 30, 2010
Do you have a broken refrigerator, an old stereo or a neglected bike clogging the garage?
Bring it to a free recycling event, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Briarwood Market Place parking lot, Southeast 128th Street and 164th Avenue Southeast, Renton.
Proceeds from the recycled raw materials benefit local charities, homeless shelters and food banks. The recycling program is provided by Issaquah-based 1 Green Planet and organized by the Liberty High School PTSA.
Find a list of recyclable products at the 1 Green Planet website.
Newcastle Elementary PTSA hosts unique student fundraisers
May 18, 2010
Rory Brown, a Newcastle Elementary School fourth-grader (front), prepares to send a ball down the lane at the PTSA social at Lucky Strike in Bellevue April 25. Meanwhile, from left, Newcastle fourth-graders Adam Morrison, Mason Vold and Shaan Luthra, and second-graders Drew Blik and Ryker Vold strike a pose for the camera. By Tim Pfarr
The Newcastle Elementary School PTSA hosted two unique, back-to-back fundraisers the weekend of April 24 and 25 — a recycling drive at Lake Boren Park and a social at the Lucky Strike bowling alley at Lincoln Square in Bellevue. Read more
Residents donate tons of electronics to AtWork!
February 16, 2010
Christy Teel (left), AtWork! project manager, and crew supervisor Ted Stamper, stand with a pallet of discarded electronic equipment that is ready to be recycled. By Greg Farrar
Washingtonians recycled more than 38.5 million pounds of TVs, computers and monitors last year through the E-Cycle Washington program.
The program launched in January and became one of the first in the nation to collect unwanted TVs, computers and monitors for free recycling. Electronics manufacturers pay for the program, and the state Department of Ecology manages the effort.
Issaquah e-cyclers turned in old electronics at three disposal sites: Read more
