The Lake Oconee Area Recycling Fair organized by the Community Organization Resource Center (CORC) was a success.

CORC Office Manager, Kathy Stephan, CORC Director, Keisha Rivers-Shorty and Rick Spors from PC and Tech Help Inc. had originally come up with the idea to collect and recondition PCs for local charities. That idea mushroomed into the recycling fair from there. The fair was a success because of several business sponsors, many volunteers and the local residents who brought in the recyclables.

The Greene-Putnam Rotary Club provided a key financial sponsorship as well as three members who volunteered at the fair. It was a festive atmosphere in the Publix parking lot with Captain Planet reminding everyone of the importance of recycling. Balloons and ice for drinks were provided by Publix, tents supplied by Reynolds Plantation and customized T-shirts were supplied by IndividualiTees. Volunteers worked up an appetite and were treated with sandwiches from Subway and pizza from Luigi’s.

About 53 cell phones, 126 pairs of eye glasses, 59 pairs of tennis shoes, 57 batteries and some aluminum cans, plastic bags and bottles were collected. The collection of computer and electronic equipment was even more successful. Twenty CRT computer monitors, a dozen PC towers and assorted pieces of electronic equipment were brought in for recycling. About 50 to 60 people brought items to the fair.

Captain Planet was on hand to whip up that enthusiasm among all ages. A couple of 2- to 3-year-olds were wary of him but they probably hadn’t seen him in “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” on TV. Most who recognized Captain Planet wanted to pose for a picture with him.

The non-electronic items collected will be recycled in various ways including the most innovative of which is with the tennis/athletic shoes. The Lake Oconee Tennis Association (LOTA) will ship 10 good pairs to Africa. The rest of the shoes will be shipped to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program where the shoes will be ground up and used to make paving for tennis and basketball courts. Sponsor Hallman’s Lumber which accepts packages for shipping via UPS will pay the cost of shipping to Nike.

The electronic items collected will either be recycled by Office Depot in Athens or reconditioned by PC and Tech Help Inc. (Rick Spors) locally. The first 20 people dropping off electronic equipment were given a reusable bag from Home Depot, which also provided bottled water for the volunteers. As much computer and electronic equipment as possible was crammed into 24”x18”x18” boxes. Office Depot charges $15 per box, which partially offsets shipping costs. Handling and storage costs are absorbed by Office Depot. At the fair, people dropping off electronic equipment were only charged $10 per box because the Greene-Putnam Rotary Club sponsored the rest of the cost. Actually, if someone dropped off less than a full box they were only charged $5. At the end of the fair, 26 boxes were loaded into one of Gene Thurston’s Neighborhood Cleaners delivery trucks.

Since each computer CRT monitor has 4-plus pounds of lead and mercury in it, more than 80 pounds of this toxic material will be kept out of local landfills. In total, about 1,000 pounds of electronic equipment was collected and will be shipped to Office Depot’s recycling facility.

Five of the PCs that were brought in for recycling were new enough to be reconditioned and given to local charities. Also salvaged were some memory cards, CD drives, and other equipment from the older PCs before we put them in the Office Depot boxes.