Rather than throw away costly electronics, students returning from Thanksgiving break can recycle their electronic devices during Binghamton University’s First Annual Student E-Waste Collection Drive.
From Dec. 1-3, BU students can drop off their used electronics, functioning or not, at any dining hall between 5 and 8 p.m. The devices will be recycled by international electronics recycler Geodis Supply Chain Optimisation, and computers that are still usable will be refurbished by the University’s Bridging the Digital Divide Project (BDDP), which aims to improve computer literacy in the Broome County area through instruction and providing computers to those with limited access to information technology.
Sunday afternoon, the drive collected large items like computers, printers and televisions.
The drive is being held by a group of students in the School of Management who won Ernst & Young’s “Your World, Your Vision” grant competition last spring on behalf of BDDP. The group took the $10,000 grand prize with their proposal for a program to both deal with electronic waste on campus and curb the digital divide by improving computer literacy.
Dali Lu, a senior majoring in management, was among the students who won the competition. Lu said managing electronic waste is important because of the chemicals used in devices that could leak into landfills.
“We live in a digitally driven age right now. People have smart phones, iPods, computers, laptops. And you have to be conscious that that’s a good thing, but at the same time, there’s obviously impacts on our environment,” Lu said. “All these devices can leak harsh chemicals like cadmium, lead, mercury — so we have to be aware of that.”
Lu and Oyunkhand Baatarkhuyag, a senior majoring in accounting, started a group called Collect-IT through the Student Volunteer Center, which collaborated to host the drive with the Center for Civic Engagement, Residential Life, BDDP and Geodis.
“Binghamton’s already pretty green, we have a lot of recycling initiatives on campus, but I think this is one area where we’re sort of lacking,” Lu said.
Lu said she and her group are hoping the drive continues annually, and that the students plan to hold another electronic waste drive in May 2014.
Since 2012, Geodis Supply Chain Optimisation has been donating computer equipment to BDDP.
“We couldn’t ask for a more generous partner than Geodis,” said Allison Alden, director of the CCE, in a press release. “[W]ithout their assistance, this E-waste drive would be nearly impossible. They are helping to both minimize pollution from electronic waste and empower students.”
All items collected from students during the drive will be safely and responsibly recycled and formatted with a Department of Defense-level information wipe. No white goods — refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines — will be accepted.
For more information, visit facebook.com/BUcollectIT or email BUcollectIT@gmail.com. Additional information can also be obtained at cce.binghamton.edu or by emailing cce@binghamton.edu.