Thursday, July 19, 2012

Continuing to Lighten the Load

The Supercar loaded with out-of-date electronics: television, VHS player,
a 1980s "boom box," and more!
"Operation Lighten the Load," my summer-long quest to clear our home of all the things we no longer use, continued yesterday with a trip to the Monroe County ecopark (their lowercase spelling, not mine) to turn in some old electronics equipment for eventual recycling. The ecopark is "an innovative partnership between Monroe County and Waste Management of NY that provides county residents with a 'one-stop drop-off' to dispose of or recycle certain items." Bottom line is that residents like myself (not businesses) can pull up and deposit a variety of products for resealing or disposal that could potentially unnecessarily fill and/or pollute traditional landfills. As you can see from the pic above, the Supercar was loaded with an old-school picture tube television set, a boom box, three DVDs in various states of disrepair, and some miscellanies computer components (scanner, speakers, etc.).

The ecopark exterior.
The ecopark is located on the outskirts of the city and the signage immediately reminds visitors that it is a cooperative venture with the county government and Waste Management. Despite the large structure, it appeared to be something of a ghost town with only two (presumably employee) vehicles in the lot.

As seen at local festicals and county events... the Recyclo-trailer!
Other than the county's recycling trailer, and the elderly lady who pulled in ahead of me, it would be easy to confuse the building for being closed. This is a drive-through service of sorts as you are prompted by signs to drive into the building and empty your returnables in the properly marked location along the course through the building. All matter of things can be brought here for disposal, including chemical containers. Some items, such as air conditioners, can be turned in only on specially designated days and for a disposal fee of $15 per unit.

Into the heart of the ecopark...
The two employees were very helpful in pointing me in the right direction when it came ti unloading my vehicle. Although gentlemen on duty offered to assist me, I did not mind stacking my items in the correct general vicinity, for later inspection and further sorting.

I was glad to have finally made the visit to ecopark, and was surprised I had not been there previously. Chances are most of the technology and electronics that would need to be driven here for recycling in the past have been functional or still of some value, so rather than disposing of them I would drop them at the Volunteers of America, which is where I went later in the day.

But that is a story for another time.

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