Next Summer 'E-rase Your E-waste' Event Is July 21st

The third "E-rase your E-waste" collection event of the summer is coming up Thursday, July 21st from 3-7 pm at the Richland County Shop in Sidney. The event is FREE and is the third in four planned for the summer months as part of the 2011 E-rase your E-waste campaing.

According to organizers, the summer is off to a great start with more than 21,000 pounds of e-waste collected to date. "We also had some great new help in June from members of the Sidney High School's Key Club," Butch Renders, one of the organizers for the event, said. "They were a big help, particularly since our summer collections have been excellent. Already, we've collected more than we did four out of the last six years we've done this, and we still have two summer events and our Septemeber weekend collection effort to go."

Helping from the Sidney High School Key Club were Katie Staffanson, Jesse Staffanson, Ariana Gaskin, and Tess Ler, all of whom enthusiastically tackled the unloading, loading and packaging of literally thousands of pounds of e-waste. "They were great," E-rase your E-waste co-chair Jackie Couture said of the girls' participation. "We literally couldn't have done it without them."

Also aiding the effort was long-time RSVP volunteer Stan Lindblom, who regularly helps with the event. "He's always there for us," Couture noted.

The E-rase your E-waste committee has set aside the third Thursday of every month (May through August) to do a collection, according to. The dates for the remaining monthly collections include July 21st and August 18th.

Collection times are from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the county repair shop at 2140 W. Holly in Sidney, next to the Fairgrounds. Participants are asked to please use the airport road entrance. Signs will be posted.

UNICOR is again serve the e-cycler for all the collections, and all acceptable items can be recycled for FREE, Couture noted, both at the summer Thursday collections and at the community weekend event set for Sept. 9-10. More information on acceptable items is available at http://www.ars.usda.gov/npa/nparl/ewaste.

Volunteers will be available to help with loading and unloading, however, businesses, schools and other organizations with large amounts of e-waste to recycle are asked to make an appointment to drop off their items by calling Jackie Couture at 406-433-9422. Please leave a message.

Where possible larger recyclers are also encouraged to palletize their own items, or send extra staff to help get it done at the summer events. Details on acceptable items and how to palletize them can be found in a handout posted to the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab's e-waste website at http://www.ars.usda.gov/npa/nparl/ewaste. In addition, a handy "Items List" recycling form is also available at the website to further speed processing time for participants bringing both large or small amounts, Couture noted.

The E-rase your E-waste effort in Sidney is coordinated by members of the Richland County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), Richland Opportunities Inc., and volunteers with other community organizations including the RSVP program. Several local businesses including Sidney Health Center, Lower Yellowstone REA and Sidney Sugars as well as the city and county have also provided financial support in the past as well as packaging, packing and promotional support. Already the MT Department of Environmental Quality has committed funds for advertising the weekend event again this year.