Looking to dispose of your old electronics without harming the environment? Earth Keeper's Clean Sweep project will give area residents throughout the Upper Peninsula the opportunity to get rid of e-waste for free on Saturday, April 22, offering more than 20 disposal sites for used electronics. This year nine U.P faith communities, Cedar Tree Institute, Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are sponsoring the event.
Last year, the first time the project was implemented, was a success as more than 45 tons of waste were collected. Organizers hope to reach 100 tons this year.
Local collections will be taken in from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the following sites :
- Trinity Lutheran Church, 711 Newberry, Newberry
- St. Ignace Methodist Church, 615 W. US 2, St. Ignace
- Catholic Newman Center, 517 Easterday Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie
- First United Presbyterian, 555 Bingham, Sault Ste. Marie
E-waste is defined as computers, mobile phones and entertainment electronics discarded by users. Each year in the U.S. more than 2 million tons of e-waste is placed in landfills which presents a number of toxins to the environment, including lead and mercury. Personal computers, which have an estimated life of three to five years, and mobile phones, which last approximately 18 months, are the items that pose the most problem as they are disposed of faster than any other. For example, one computer monitor may have up to 6 percent of lead by weight. When these items are burned or broken in a landfill, the toxins are presented to the air and water. The health risks that are associated with inhalation of lead-bearing particles can be deadly.
The e-waste collected by the Clean Sweep project will be reused, recycled or disposed of through an Environmental Protection Agency certified company. Often companies such as Dell and Hewlett Packard initiate recycling projects only to have the items shipped overseas to impoverished areas where children are often the ones sorting through the refuse for recyclable parts. According to Greenpeace International, shipping e-waste overseas has become more prominent as developed countries such as the U.S. find it costlier to recycle products in their own nation. In comparison with China the cost of glass-to-glass recycling is 10 times more in the United States.
Earth Keeper's founders believe the earth is God's temple and it is the job of those living on it to keep it free of pollution and refuse any way they can. The project is partly funded by a grant from the EPA.
