The county is reporting that the E-CARE’s spring collection was a huge success compared to last fall, with 30 tons of electronics and 35.5 tons of hazardous household materials collected from 1,341 Arlingtonians, a press release said.
E-CARE--the Environmental Collection And Recycling Event--is a one-day collection of non-standard refuse, held at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center. At this event, the county collects all sorts of garbage that should not go into the regular trash. They also collect for charity items such as books and bicycles.
The spring event always does better than the fall drive, county staff said. But this year’s slowly-improving economy might have meant that more people got rid of older electronics in favor of new, or maybe just the latest gadgets pushed people into buying new. Sharon Whalen McDaniel, with the Department of Environmental Services, said they really don’t know why the numbers surged.
However, “we also marketed our event heavily,” said Sharon Whalen McDaniel. She said DES used social networking software like Facebook to get the word out. “We’re really finding it’s a great way to reach an audience.”
This program is in addition to the disposal people can do at street side. People in apartments and condominiums might find this more helpful, staff said.
From here, much of the electronics will head to “demanufacturers” to have the equipment stripped and sent along to a manufacturer that can use the parts, to a recycling area of another kind or to their final disposal, McDaniel said.
