Schools hold recycling binge

To celebrate Earth Day this month, Catholic school students throughout the Albany Diocese participated in an electronics recycling event.

The effort also gave the public an opportunity to safely get rid of old computers, printers, cell phones and the like. With the help of E-Lot Electronics Recycling, Inc. of Troy, Catholic schools received the electronic devices for recycling in bins placed in their parking lots.

That kept the items out of landfills, where they could have been a source of environmental pollution.

Sister Debbie Timmis, CSJ, director of educational technology for the Albany Diocese Catholic Schools Office, said that the event was designed to promote environmental awareness.

Teach your children

"We wanted our children to learn about electronic waste and its impact on our environment. We thought the weekend closest to Earth Day would be a great way to do it," Sister Debbie told The Evangelist.

Of the 30 Catholic schools in the Albany Diocese, students from 27 schools participated.

"Catholic Central High School students wrote skits and performed them all week long. They also did public service announcements to the community," Sister Debbie noted.

Younger students participated in projects, making posters and learning about environmental pollution and Earth Day, April 22.

Each school received a delivery of several four-by-four foot bins to collect the recyclables. Through announcements at the schools and word of mouth in the community, people were invited to drop off their old electronic equipment over the weekend.

Keep 'em coming

"I live at St. Mary's in Ballston Spa. They started sending out flyers and very early people filled four bins. The school called E-Lot and ordered five more brought to the parking lot. They were all filled," Sister Debbie noted.

She called the collection "an opportunity for [students] to learn what to do in order not to pollute our earth now and in the future."

Although the schools could have been paid a nominal fee for their recycling efforts, Sister Debbie felt it was more important to educate students and the public about the effects of electronics pollution.

"Chemicals found in electronics such as lead, mercury, lithium, cadmium and beryllium can significantly harm the environment if not properly disposed of or recycled. We want our children to learn about electronics pollution and ways that they can effectively and safely prevent it. That's really what this was all about," she said.

(E-Lot Electronics recycles and refurbishes computers and electronics throughout the U.S., offering pickup and drop-off services. The company also offers rebuilt computers, computer parts and electronics for sale. The amount collected is still being totalled. Sister Debbie has set up a website to monitor the recycling effort: ww.faithinourfuture.net/earth.html.)

(05/01/08) [[In-content Ad]]