Clear Out Unwanted Electronics at Hearst School's E-cycling Event on May 5th -- And Pick Up Some Free Software, Too!

Save yourself the drive to the Fort Totten Trash Facility across town: This Saturday you can e-cycle your old computers, audio and other equipment, right here in the neighborhood, and at the same time pick up some gently used books, and some free software. This event benefits Hearst Elementary School at 3950 37th Street NW. Here's the flyer:

Come to Hearst Elementary's Spring E/Free-Cycle and Used Book Sale!

Are you wondering what to do with that old computer that is gathering dust in your basement? Do you have old, obsolete, or broken electronic equipment? Would you like to donate working electronics to a neighborhood free-cycle or find an item for yourself? How about buying a bag of gently used books? On May 5, 2012 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, Hearst will hold its fourth annual neighborhood e-cycle/free-cycle/used book sale at the school. We will be collecting the following electronics for a new life in our free-cycle or for transport to Ft. Totten for recycling: 

• Audio/visual equipment 
• Audio cassette tapes 
• Camcorders, digital cameras 
• CD Rom drives, CDs/DVDs 
• Cell Phones and pagers 
• TVs, VCRs, and VCR tapes 
• Connectors/cords/wire 
• Copy machines 
• Fax machines, printers, scanners 
• Laptop and Netbook Computers 
• Video Games and handheld Game systems 
• Graphing Calculators 
• Floppy disks and hard drives 
• Memory Chips 
• Network/video/sound cards 
• Power supplies 
• Computers and monitors 
• iPods and MP3 players 
• Printer cartridges 
• Unbroken compact fluorescent lightbulbs 
• Batteries (no car batteries!) 
• Game Consoles (Wii, PS, Xbox) 
• GPS devices; radar detectors 
• Tape drives 

This event is free, but we gladly accept all donations to help us pay for our costs and support our school. We will have a free moon bounce for children, a bake sale during the event with many yummy things from which to choose, and the PTA will be selling reusable, BPA-free water bottles. 

And, new this year, we will also have a used book sale (in keeping with the idea of re-use) -- so don't forget to bring a reusable bag or two for carrying goodies to take home! 

Returning this year: the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) table, put on by Kevin Cole and Sanjay Jain. Here's their description of how FOSS works:

Free Open Source Software allows you to use older computers for longer, thus reducing e-waste. We will have Ubuntu CDs to give away. See Bill Adler's comments about Ubuntu at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cleveland-park/message/7190  (You will need to subscribe to the Cleveland Park Listserv --it's free and open to all at www.cleveland-park.com-- to access this message.) 

If you'd like to try Ubuntu before the event to see if your equipment can be used for a few more years, you can download it from ubuntu.com. For computers older than 8 or 10 years, I recommend puppylinux.org. If you have any difficulty downloading the software or creating a CD, I'd be happy to let you have one before the event. You can email Sanjay Jain at oss.cleveland@yahoo.com

 Phoebe Hearst Elementary is located at 3950 37th Street NW, 20008, 202/282-0106. 

For complete details visit: hearstes.org/recycling. 

DPW's Hazardous Waste and E-Cycling Drop-off Is Saturday, March 3

It's that time of the month: The Department of Public Works is reminding us that this Saturday at its Fort Totten Facility, you can get rid of your hazardous waste and documents to be shredded. Here are all the details:

DPW's monthly Household Hazardous Waste/E-Cycling/Personal Document Shredding drop-off is Saturday, March 3, between 8 am and 3 pm at the Ft. Totten Transfer Station. You can also find directions to Fort Totten on that web page.

District residents may bring toxic items, such as pesticides, batteries and cleaning fluids to Ft. Totten, along with computers, televisions and other unwanted electronic equipment. Personal document shredding also is available and residents may bring up to five boxes of materials to be shredded. No business or commercial material will be accepted.

To accommodate residents whose religious beliefs prohibit them from using the Saturday drop-off, DPW will accept household hazardous waste and e-cyclables the Thursday before the first Saturday of the month (March 1, from 1 pm to 5 pm). While DPW normally offers personal document shredding the first Saturday, they cannot accept items for shredding on Thursdays because these documents cannot be protected until the shredding contractor arrives the first Saturday.

For a list of all household hazardous waste and e-cyclables accepted by DPW, please click on the HHW link at www.dpw.dc.gov.

E-Cycling/Donations Drop-off Today at GEICO/Goodwill

You have a chance today between 9am and 1pm to get rid of your old electronics and donated any usable household goods at the same time. Goodwill and GEICO have put together one of the region's largest e-cycling and donation drives. Here's what you need to know:

On Saturday, January 28, GEICO will accept community donations for Goodwill at 5260 Western Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD between 9am and 1 pm.  Donors can bring their electronics, clothing, housewares and furniture.  A Goodwill truck will be at the site.

All computers and accessories will be recycled through the Dell Reconnect Program. Computers and parts do not need to be in working condition.

All other donations will be resold through Goodwill’s chain of retail stores. Sales help provide job
training and employment services to people with disabilities and disadvantages throughout the
Washington, DC metropolitan area. For more information click here.

E-cycling Event at Key Elementary November 4 & 5

If you have electronics to go to e-cycling but would rather not have to make the long drive to DPW's Fort Totten facility in Northeast DC, you can take advantage of the e-cycling event at Key Elementary School on Friday November 4 and Saturday, November 5.

Key Elementary is located at 5001 Dana Place NW in Palisades. Drop off  your items in the designated areas in the parking lot off Hurst Terrace between Friday 6:00 pm and Saturday at 2:00pm.

Drop-off items include everything from electronics and appliances to fluorescent bulbs to scrap metal and cans of oil-based paint. Click here to view the complete list.

There will also be a freecycle area where you can drop off items, labeled as to whether they work, and take away any items you would like.

Questions? Send an email to SpringClean @ palisadesdc.org.

This event is put on by the Key Elementary Green Committee in partnership with Potomac eScrap. 

Thursday, Oct. 6: Another Chance to E-Cycle and Drop Off Hazardous Waste

You've got to hand it to the people of DPW when it comes to religious accommodation: As soon it was brought to their attention that the Saturday-only drop-off date did not work for observant Jews who also wanted to rid themselves of their hazardous waste and e-cycling, a Thursday drop-off date was scheduled once a month.

But in just the second month of the program, DPW again ran up against another date conflict for observant Jews: That Thursday just happens to be Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important dates in the Jewish calendar, and so a new date of September 22nd was announced. And then for some reason that date did not work out, and now the new date is Thursday, October 6. So mark your calendars and hope this date sticks! And thanks, DPW, for keeping us posted!

Thursday HHW/E-Cycling Drop-Off To Take Place on October 6, 2011 

In August, DPW announced that in addition to monthly household hazardous waste/e-cycling collection events scheduled on the first Saturday of each month, DPW would be accepting household hazardous waste and electronic items on the Thursday before the first Saturday of the month. It was brought to our attention that one of the dates would conflict with a religious holiday. Initially, we announced that the drop-off had been changed to Thursday, September 22. Because of a scheduling conflict, the HHW/E-Cycling drop-off will take place on Thursday, October 6, from 1 – 7pm, at the Fort Totten Transfer Station. While our web site indicates that the collection date is October 6, we wanted to make you aware of the change as well. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Kevin B. Twine
Staff Assistant
Department of Public Works
202-671-2593
kevin.twine @ dc.gov

Free E-cycling and Document Shredding in Crystal City on April 27

Looking for a convenient way to get rid of your old computer, printer, bank records, and more?  You could wait for the first Saturday of the month and drive to DC's Fort Totten facility, or you could drop off your unwanted hazardous waste this Wednesday, at the free e-cycling and shredding event in Northern Virginia.  Here's what you need to know:

What:  Power Purge and Shred
When:  Wednesday, April 27 from 7:00am - 7:00pm
Where:  Parking Lot at 20th Street & S. Bell Street, 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Crystal City, VA

Crystal City government, partnering with the eCyclers division of the Kane Company, is sponsoring this event, to which you can bring everything from batteries to desktop computers and laptops to TVs, monitors and microwaves. There will be strict chain-of-custody control over the electronics from the moment of drop-off until the items are safely, securely and responsibly destroyed by Kane Company personnel and subsequently delivered to a USEPA approved recycler. Skeptics can even watch the eCyclers team physically destroy their hard drives with an onsite "hard drive crusher" and walk away with a certification of secure destruction and rest assured that the equipment will never find its way to offshore toxic waste sites.

Documents will be shredded onsite courtesy of the Office Shredding division of the Kane Company. Document destruction can help reduce the risk of exposure by ensuring proper compliance with existing privacy laws and keeping abreast of new or updated federal regulations. The Kane Company can also help ensure compliance with the guidelines of corporate ethics programs, safeguard public image, and protect businesses, customers, and employees from identity theft.

Heast School's Community E-Cycle on Saturday, 8:30am - 11:30am

Hearst Elementary School is holding its third annual Community E-Cycle. It's happening in Cleveland Park this Saturday, April 2 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. This event is free and all collected materials will be either reused (in our free-cycle) or sent to Ft. Totten for recycling. Here is a list of what will be accepted:

• Audio/visual equipment
• Floppy disks and hard drives
• Audio cassettes
• Memory chips
• Camcorders, digital cameras
• Network/video
• CD rom drives, CDs/DVDs
• Power supplies
• Cell phones and pagers
• Computer towers and monitors
• Laptop and netbook computers
• TVs, VCRs, and VCR cassette tapes
• iPods and MP3 players
• Connectors/cords
• Video games and software
• Copy machines
• Unbroken CFL light bulbs
• Fax machines, printers, scanners
• Batteries (no car batteries)
• Game consoles (Wii, PS3, Xbox)
• Video games and hand held game systems
• Graphing calculators
• Tape drives
• Printer cartridges

Phoebe Hearst Elementary is located at 3950 37th St. NW.  You can find more information at http://www.hearstes.org/e-cycle.

Stay green!

Looking to Dispose of Electronics Environmentally? Power Purge & Shred, Apr. 27

Spring cleaning goes electric in Crystal City with the annual Power Purge and Shred.

When:   April 27, 2011 from 7am – 7pm.
Where:  20th and Bell Street, 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway Arlington, VA

The Power Purge & Shred allows area businesses and residents to safely and securely shred and recycle unwanted and outdated documents and electronics.

Partnering with the eCyclers division of the Kane Company, the Power Purge & Shred drop-off site will take everything from batteries, desktop computers and laptops, to TVs, monitors and microwaves. The eCyclers' strict chain-of-custody maintains control over the electronics from the moment they pick it up until it is safely, securely and responsibly destroyed by their personnel and subsequently delivered to a US EPA-approved recycler. Skeptics can even watch the eCyclers team physically destroy their hard drives with an onsite "hard drive crusher" and walk away with a certification of secure destruction and rest assured that the equipment will never find its way to offshore toxic waste sites.

Documents will be shredded on site courtesy of the Office Shredding division of the Kane Company. Document destruction can help reduce the risk of exposure by ensuring proper compliance with existing privacy laws and keeping abreast of new or updated federal regulations. The Kane Company can also help ensure compliance with the guidelines of corporate ethics programs, safeguard public image, and protect businesses, customers, and employees from identity theft.

This is a project of the Crystal City Business Improvement District.

E-Cycling at Walt Whitman High in Bethesda on Saturday

Now that the DC government has cut back its e-cycling to once a month at its Fort Totten facility, it's good to learn about other places that offer e-cycling services. The Bethesda Green campaign is putting on a free e-cycling event this Sunday at Walt Whitman High School that offers a convenient way to get rid of your old CRT TV and other outdated electronics. This free e-cycling/refurbishing drive also keeps harmful waste out of our disposal facilities.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 from 12-4 pm

Walt Whitman High School parking lot

7100 Whittier Boulevard, 

Bethesda, MD 

Last year the e-cycling drive at Whitman collected almost 100,000 pounds of e-waste. So gather up your unwanted electronic items and drive up to the attendant in the school parking lot. You don't even have to get out of your car or erase your data, it's that easy.

Free E-Cycling Event at Key Elementary School Friday and Saturday

Time to get rid of that old analog beast of a television?  Unexcited about escorting that overflowing bucket of batteries downtown to the dump at Fort Totten? Fear not: Key Elementary School’s e-cycle event on November 5th and 6th can help you clear some room and dispose of such items easily and responsibly.   

There will be a designated drop off area on the Key School parking lot between Friday 6:00 pm to Saturday at 12:15 pm. To find out all the details, click on the link to this e-cycling event.