Annual Earth Day Electronics and Appliances Recycling Drive April 19

Stockton United Methodist Go Green Team invites community residents to its 12th annual Electronics and Appliances Recycling Drive on Saturday, April 19, 8:30-11:30 a.m., in the church parking lot.

Recycle for free: computer towers, keyboards, mice, tablets, laptops, scanners, routers, gaming systems, CD/DVD/cassette players, VCRs, telephones/cell phones, fax machines; printers/copiers; satellite receivers, re-chargeable battery packs, etc. Washers, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves; cords; small items with a cord or battery, such as toasters, curling irons, and coffee pots. EPS foam packaging blocks and coolers (white only, pristine clean, identifiable by small round beads molded together to form block or shape). All sizes ink/toner cartridges. NO LIGHT BULBS!

New this year, recycle for free: all kinds of writing instruments: crayons, pencils, pens, highlighters and caps.

Recycle for a small donation: small batteries (rechargeable and not), CDs/DVDs (NO CASSETTES OR VHS TAPES), flash drives.

Recycle for a fee: LCD and plasma TVs/monitors ($20 each); CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors and TVs under 26 inches diagonal ($25 each); CRT TVs over 26 inches diagonal and rear projection TVs ($30 each). Fees collected pass directly to recycling entities to cover the special handling required to process those items.

Enter parking lot from west and follow traffic signs. Remain in your vehicle while volunteers unload items.

Meredith Recycling collects and transports appliances, electronics, and smaller items with a cord to their facility in Montrose where they dismantle and/or distribute them through appropriate channels. Multiple components ranging from copper wiring to metal casing can be recycled into new items making them useful again while also keeping harmful chemicals or other components from polluting our environment. Meredith also shreds components that contain personal information at their facility. The shredder is too large and cumbersome to transport to our drive.

The Go Green Team celebrates this tenth year of Meredith Recycling providing a convenient, local opportunity to responsibly dispose of unwanted and non-working electronics and appliances.

A team member delivers writing instruments to Staples Office Supply in Springfield, EPS foam to Altor Solutions in El Dorado Springs, and small batteries, CDs/DVDs, and flash drives to Computer Recycling Center (CRC) in Springfield. CRC charges $1-4 per pound of batteries, depending on the kind, and $2 per pound to recycle CDs/DVDs and flash drives. The team paid $210 to recycle these items collected at the last drive and relies on small donations to offset this cost.

Stockton United Methodist Church parking lot is located at 708 E. MO Hwy 32 east of the Stockton square, across from Stockton Cemetery. For more information, call the church office, (417) 276-4717.