Photo courtesy Larry Wiss, University of Hawaii

eWaste Disposal Days 2012

Photo courtesy Larry Wiss, University of Hawaii

Photo courtesy Larry Wiss, University of Hawaii

As we’ll soon be coming upon the holiday season, now is the perfect time to rid your home of any clutter and make room for all your new toys. The University of Hawaii is hosting another free statewide electronic waste recycling drive for your old computers and other ewaste Oct. 25-27.

This will be the fourth installment of this program, and Apple will provide the recycling and disposal services. You may remember my writing about this program in previous years, but this is just a reminder of this great earth-friendly way to get rid of your equipment without feeling guilty about tossing it into a landfill.

If you’re bringing personal items from your home, you do not need to register, but if you’re from an educational institution, government agency, business or nonprofit organization, you need to pre-register.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, Americans own an average of 24 electronic products per household, with businesses utilizing an even higher rate of machines.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that when electronics reach their end of use, most are discarded into landfills, where some of their components may cause serious public health or environmental contamination problems.

All equipment collected at this event will be processed in North America in an environmentally responsible way and recycled into commodity-grade materials such as metals, plastics and glass. Visit hawaii.edu/ewaste for a list of equipment that will be accepted and print able maps to the seven statewide drop-off sites.

Here are the dates with the respective drop-off sites:

Oct. 25: John A. Burns School of Medicine, Leeward Community College, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Oct. 26: John A. Burns School of Medicine, Leeward Community College, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kauai Community College, UH Maui College, Windward Community College, Kealakehe High School (Kailua-Kona)

Oct. 27: John A. Burns School of Medicine, Leeward Community College, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kauai Community College, UH Maui College, Windward Community College, Kealakehe High School (Kailua-Kona)


Aloha United Way Electronic Waste Recycling Project

In addition to the UH events, Aloha United Way has an ongoing project running until Dec. 15. The next drop off will be Oct. 20, 9 a.m. to noon, at three locations: McKinley High School, Aina Haina Elementary School and Access Information Management-Aiea.

Pacific Corporate Solutions is partnering with Aloha United Way to assist in grassroots fundraising. When you donate your ewaste this way, you’ll be investing in the community since the waste is converted into funds that help Aloha United Way.

There is no quantity limit to what you can drop off, whether you’re a consumer, business or government entity. If you have a massive amount of items, you can request pickup with no quantity limits (you may have to request an estimate).

Additionally, you can drop off your ewaste at the Halawa facility Monday to Friday, 10 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m., but you should call 488-8870 to set up an appointment.

Visit the website (paci-ficcorporatesolutions.com/blog/) for detailed dates/times and list of the accepted items.