This article appeared in the Jan. 12, 2007 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
E-garbage, or electronic waste, has been described as “the most toxic component of solid waste”. An average television with a cathode ray tube contains up to seven pounds of lead, and a computer almost four pounds. These, and other heavy metals found in electronic products, such as mercury and cadmium, can leach into the soil and pose risks to human health and the environment.
According to the Environment Canada EnviroZine, “mountains of electronic waste are piling up in landfills across Canada”. In 2003 they cited 140,000 tonnes of computer equipment, phones, televisions, stereos and small appliances which had already made their way into landfills. How much greater that figure must be now!
Closer to home, an independent-minded, earth-loving, money-where-your-mouth-is kind of guy recognized the problem and tried to initiate a solution.
“It was super-discouraging,” said Michael Krahn, manager of “Fish Lips”, a hemp product store in Gimli.
In 2001, Krahn started collecting other people’s old computers in order to keep them out of landfill sites because he felt concerned that chemicals might leech into Lake Winnipeg. “Within one or two months I was inundated,” he said.
Krahn was given over 100 old computers from the head office of a credit union in Winnipeg, and with donations of many more computers from individuals, he soon found his garage filling up and was becoming known in the community for providing this valuable service.
Krahn then contacted Steve Ashton, environment minister at the time. “I hit a brick wall,” he said. “They wanted to shut me down because the storage facility has to meet a certain standard.” Krahn was told to take the computers to the landfill site because of the unsuitability of his garage to house them.
Krahn ended up selling a couple of the old computers, giving a few away, and then taking the rest of them to a recycling facility in Gimli that, unfortunately, was not equipped to handle this sort of material.
During the span of that year, Krahn had made great efforts to find a place that would take these electronic cast-offs, incurring out-of-pocket expenses in the process. He identified two facilities which could recycle the computers, one in Minnesota and one in Alberta, but, “Who’s going to pay for that shipping?” he asked. The cost was prohibitive.
Kudos to Krahn for caring enough to try!
Kudos, as well, to Karen and Alvin Keppler from the Selkirk and District Community Learning Centre, whose involvement in the E-garbage problem happened almost by accident.
Their story starts at the learning centre, where Karen is a program manager, and Alvin, a facility manager. The centre had come up with a computer lending program in which low income clients could borrow usable, older model computers for a period of two years. Demand grew, and soon the learning centre had run out of computers. They got word that computer parts could sometimes be found at the landfill sites, and to their great delight they did indeed find computer parts they could use–and whole computers, and a lot of other things as well!
Delight turned to dismay when they realized the extent of the E-garbage problem right in their backyard. “We felt that it was just not right,” Alvin said of the environmental implications of this waste.
Responsible Electronics Recycling was born from this event, and has been operating in the city of Selkirk for almost a year now, with two other recycling depots in St. Andrews.
With the help of 4 volunteers, a wide variety of electronic products are partly disassembled, stored in a government approved cold storage warehouse, and later shipped to high-tech electronics recycling facilities in Quebec and Alberta, or reused where possible. The Kepplers are hopeful that the steel components that they salvage will eventually be smelted right in Selkirk.
This story gets even better:
Since obtaining an initial $3,500 grant from the R.M. of St. Andrews for a six month pilot project, the R.M. extended another $7,000 for the next year. This money covers the hefty transportation costs to get box car loads full of same-item electronics to the distant recycling facilities.
“St. Andrews was the first one up to the plate,” said Karen Keppler, “and we hope they are not the last.” The couple has made presentations in the past two weeks to the R.M. of St. Clements and to the City of Selkirk for additional grants. “We are now ready to expand,” said Karen.
In fact, their vision is to be able to serve a wider area in the province. They are willing to arrange pick-up of E-garbage from other rural municipalities as long as they can negotiate sufficient monies to cover their costs. At this point, it is first-come, first-served as their capacity is not unlimited.
The “E-garbage” problem has not been lost on government, despite it seeming so at times. The Manitoba government has been quietly working in conjunction with Green Manitoba to find solutions to environmental problems, and one area they are beginning to address is E-garbage.
In the very near future, in late spring or early summer of 2007, a huge province-wide collection round-up of old computers and electronics is slated, according to Doug Smith of Green Manitoba. How soon it happens depends on when they will be able to locate a suitable storage site, line up volunteers, and partner with industry.
Another ground-breaking change on this front will take place within approximately one year’s time: A product stewardship program is to be in place for all of Manitoba. Electronics producers will be required by law to subscribe to the program in order to do business within the province, producers like Hewlett-Packard, Lexmarks, and Brothers, for example.
Producers, to be called “stewards”, will be required to come up with solutions to the environmental problems that their products help create. Solutions may include working with retail outlets on take-back programs, or covering transportation costs to recycling sites, as well as changes to product design, etc. Manufacturers will need to submit proposals for approval to the government.
In the final analysis, consumers will very likely end up having to pay an upfront eco-levy when they purchase electronic products. That’s the trade-off.
Smith advises people to hold on to their old electronics until the date and location of the big round-up has been established, or to reuse or donate the items.
The other option, is to drop off the electronics items in person to Responsible Electronics Recycling at 511 Robinson Ave. in Selkirk. This can be done between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Or lobby local government to set up an electronics waste depot at your local waste disposal site, and deposit your electronics there with pride.
Responsible Electronics Recycling accepts a wide variety of items, including computer components, printers, cell phones, cassettes, CDs, televisions, stereos, remote controls, games decks, electronic typewriters, software manuals, and a host of other items. If requested, they will even make sure your hard drive is cleared of all personal data.
It is best to contact them, at 482-2111, beforehand to make sure they can accept your discards. This will save them the hassle of getting rid of what they cannot make use of, and they will have that much more time to continue the fabulous work they have been doing for all of us, and for the environment—jobs that rightfully belong to us all!
E-garbage, or electronic waste, has been described as “the most toxic component of solid waste”. An average television with a cathode ray tube contains up to seven pounds of lead, and a computer almost four pounds. These, and other heavy metals found in electronic products, such as mercury and cadmium, can leach into the soil and pose risks to human health and the environment.
According to the Environment Canada EnviroZine, “mountains of electronic waste are piling up in landfills across Canada”. In 2003 they cited 140,000 tonnes of computer equipment, phones, televisions, stereos and small appliances which had already made their way into landfills. How much greater that figure must be now!
Closer to home, an independent-minded, earth-loving, money-where-your-mouth-is kind of guy recognized the problem and tried to initiate a solution.
“It was super-discouraging,” said Michael Krahn, manager of “Fish Lips”, a hemp product store in Gimli.
In 2001, Krahn started collecting other people’s old computers in order to keep them out of landfill sites because he felt concerned that chemicals might leech into Lake Winnipeg. “Within one or two months I was inundated,” he said.
Krahn was given over 100 old computers from the head office of a credit union in Winnipeg, and with donations of many more computers from individuals, he soon found his garage filling up and was becoming known in the community for providing this valuable service.
Krahn then contacted Steve Ashton, environment minister at the time. “I hit a brick wall,” he said. “They wanted to shut me down because the storage facility has to meet a certain standard.” Krahn was told to take the computers to the landfill site because of the unsuitability of his garage to house them.
Krahn ended up selling a couple of the old computers, giving a few away, and then taking the rest of them to a recycling facility in Gimli that, unfortunately, was not equipped to handle this sort of material.
During the span of that year, Krahn had made great efforts to find a place that would take these electronic cast-offs, incurring out-of-pocket expenses in the process. He identified two facilities which could recycle the computers, one in Minnesota and one in Alberta, but, “Who’s going to pay for that shipping?” he asked. The cost was prohibitive.
Kudos to Krahn for caring enough to try!
Kudos, as well, to Karen and Alvin Keppler from the Selkirk and District Community Learning Centre, whose involvement in the E-garbage problem happened almost by accident.
Their story starts at the learning centre, where Karen is a program manager, and Alvin, a facility manager. The centre had come up with a computer lending program in which low income clients could borrow usable, older model computers for a period of two years. Demand grew, and soon the learning centre had run out of computers. They got word that computer parts could sometimes be found at the landfill sites, and to their great delight they did indeed find computer parts they could use–and whole computers, and a lot of other things as well!
Delight turned to dismay when they realized the extent of the E-garbage problem right in their backyard. “We felt that it was just not right,” Alvin said of the environmental implications of this waste.
Responsible Electronics Recycling was born from this event, and has been operating in the city of Selkirk for almost a year now, with two other recycling depots in St. Andrews.
With the help of 4 volunteers, a wide variety of electronic products are partly disassembled, stored in a government approved cold storage warehouse, and later shipped to high-tech electronics recycling facilities in Quebec and Alberta, or reused where possible. The Kepplers are hopeful that the steel components that they salvage will eventually be smelted right in Selkirk.
This story gets even better:
Since obtaining an initial $3,500 grant from the R.M. of St. Andrews for a six month pilot project, the R.M. extended another $7,000 for the next year. This money covers the hefty transportation costs to get box car loads full of same-item electronics to the distant recycling facilities.
“St. Andrews was the first one up to the plate,” said Karen Keppler, “and we hope they are not the last.” The couple has made presentations in the past two weeks to the R.M. of St. Clements and to the City of Selkirk for additional grants. “We are now ready to expand,” said Karen.
In fact, their vision is to be able to serve a wider area in the province. They are willing to arrange pick-up of E-garbage from other rural municipalities as long as they can negotiate sufficient monies to cover their costs. At this point, it is first-come, first-served as their capacity is not unlimited.
The “E-garbage” problem has not been lost on government, despite it seeming so at times. The Manitoba government has been quietly working in conjunction with Green Manitoba to find solutions to environmental problems, and one area they are beginning to address is E-garbage.
In the very near future, in late spring or early summer of 2007, a huge province-wide collection round-up of old computers and electronics is slated, according to Doug Smith of Green Manitoba. How soon it happens depends on when they will be able to locate a suitable storage site, line up volunteers, and partner with industry.
Another ground-breaking change on this front will take place within approximately one year’s time: A product stewardship program is to be in place for all of Manitoba. Electronics producers will be required by law to subscribe to the program in order to do business within the province, producers like Hewlett-Packard, Lexmarks, and Brothers, for example.
Producers, to be called “stewards”, will be required to come up with solutions to the environmental problems that their products help create. Solutions may include working with retail outlets on take-back programs, or covering transportation costs to recycling sites, as well as changes to product design, etc. Manufacturers will need to submit proposals for approval to the government.
In the final analysis, consumers will very likely end up having to pay an upfront eco-levy when they purchase electronic products. That’s the trade-off.
Smith advises people to hold on to their old electronics until the date and location of the big round-up has been established, or to reuse or donate the items.
The other option, is to drop off the electronics items in person to Responsible Electronics Recycling at 511 Robinson Ave. in Selkirk. This can be done between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Or lobby local government to set up an electronics waste depot at your local waste disposal site, and deposit your electronics there with pride.
Responsible Electronics Recycling accepts a wide variety of items, including computer components, printers, cell phones, cassettes, CDs, televisions, stereos, remote controls, games decks, electronic typewriters, software manuals, and a host of other items. If requested, they will even make sure your hard drive is cleared of all personal data.
It is best to contact them, at 482-2111, beforehand to make sure they can accept your discards. This will save them the hassle of getting rid of what they cannot make use of, and they will have that much more time to continue the fabulous work they have been doing for all of us, and for the environment—jobs that rightfully belong to us all!
