Happy spring! Who'd have thought -- rain, snow, cold temps, sleet, wind. Oh well, it'll be fine. Gotta stay flexible, right?

Oh, those computer collections we held this week were terrific! It was a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Everyone was so appreciative of having the opportunity to get rid of their old ancient electronic equipment and knowing that they were being properly disposed of. Even though the garbage man will accept these types of items it's not the place to get rid of them. This project served 32 communities and 138 businesses/households.

In Wayne and Bloomfield many volunteers came to help and they did a terrific job of quickly unloading all the vehicles. The old electronics came in cars, pickups, horse trailers and even a covered pull-along trailer. There were 287 monitors and laptops brought in that have hazardous materials as part of their components. Other items included disc drives, camcorders, telephones, VCRs, DVDs, bunches of cords, power supplies, copiers, speakers, faxes and more. At the end of the two days two trucks (one 14' long and the other 20' long) were neatly stacked and packed full. Only a little pile remained that wouldn't fit into the truck so it had to be picked up the next day.

Tim Skora, contractor for Electronics Recyclers Inc. recycles or reuses everything possible. He said most of the copper goes back to China. Some of the computer screens that are in working order as well as the CD-ROMs and floppy disks drives are sold to other companies to reuse. Most of the plastic will be bailed and recycled.

Funding for this project came in part from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality through their Litter Reduction and Recycling Grant Program. After everything gets weighed by the contractor we'll know if there's enough money left to do a third collection. If so, that would take place this summer and we'll get out information so you all know about it.

Remember to get involved in RC&D: a great program with great people doing great things. Private citizens are doing public good through RC&D Councils. It's your program so use it. Until next time?.

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For more information, call (402) 582-4866, e-mail info@northeastrcd.org or visit www.northeastrcd.org.