Friday, April 25, 2008

Milwaukee's Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge: Scrap This!

On Saturday, April 26, Milwaukee "is hosting a one-day special collection event where residents will have the opportunity to recycle old TVs in addition to computer electronics."



That's nice.




The City of Milwaukee and Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful present Milwaukee's Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge E-Scrap Collection to be held at the Italian Community Center's south parking lot on Saturday April 26, 2008 from 10am to 2pm.

This event is free and open to City of Milwaukee residents, who must present an ID or copy of a bill with a Milwaukee address. This event is for residents only -- no businesses please.

Wow. You need to present an ID to drop off old TVs and computer equipment.

In Milwaukee, you don't need to present an ID to vote!

That's weird, but this is nuts:




PLEASE LIMIT TO 4 UNITS PER VEHICLE.

What's the point of this event? Is it to recycle safely? That's how it's being promoted.

I don't get why they'd limit it to 4 units per vehicle.

Wouldn't it be more successful if they collected as much electronic scrap as possible?

Should a family take two cars to the event if they have more than 4 units to scrap? Are they encouraging people to make two trips to stay within the 4 unit limit?

That's not very environmentally-friendly.


Help keep these items out of landfills and protect Lake Michigan! They can contain lead, mercury, and other heavy metals that harm human health and the environment if released into the air or water.

If the event sponsors truly want to achieve that end, then why would they place a limit?

If you have more than 4 units you don't want, then you have more than 4 that need to be safely recycled.

If there is concern that they won't be able to handle all the units and they'll be overwhelmed, then this event appears to be more of a symbolic thing rather than a serious attempt to dispose of electronic units in a manner that won't harm the environment.

The message seems to be:


We want to have a collection, but we don't want to collect too much.

We want you to recycle and protect the planet, but don't overdo it.

No comments: