Last year’s recycling drive was a blast for student volunteers and community participants alike! (Credit: Trojan Times / Wissahickon School District)
Last year, Wissahickon High School’s Environmental Club hosted their first electronics recycling drive — a drive-in and drop-off event that allowed people to get rid of their electronic appliances in a sustainable way. More than 200 cars cycled through the drive, as groups of student volunteers and employees from People Advancing Reintegration (PAR) Recycle works — a recycling organization that employs former prison inmates — took their appliances off their hands and prepared them for the recycling process.
This year, the Environmental Club is hosting the event once again, hoping to get an even better turnout.
Many electronics, such as cell phones, monitors, and microwaves, are often discarded improperly, as many assume that these items can merely be trashed or recycled at home as a plastic bottle or cardboard box would be. In actuality, they must be brought to specific, specialized plants to ensure that their materials are reused most effectively.
Events like the environmental club’s drive are an excellent way to make this process more convenient and community driven. After all, this drive is a great opportunity for people to get rid of old, annoying items without straying too far from home.
“I think it’s important to give community members an accessible and affordable way to be sustainable,” said Tiffany Liu, who serves as an officer with the Environmental Club.
The electronics recycling drive will be held on Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the high school’s natatorium parking lot. The drive will accept most items with a plug — smaller electronics, like cell phones and laptops will be free of charge, while larger appliances like TVs, air conditioners, and air purifiers will require a fee in the form of cash or check to recycle.
With high hopes that this drive will be even more successful than the last, the environmental club encourages the Wissahickon community to participate.
The following article originally appeared in Wissahickon High School’s student-run newspaper, the Trojan Times. It has been republished here with permission from Wissahickon School District.
