April 2007 Reston Environmental Action Update
Everyone is welcome to attend all board and committee meetings!
Next REACT Board Meeting: Tuesday, April 24, Hunters Woods, Room 1
Earth Day Electronic Recycling Opportunity
Do you have old computers and printers stacked in a closet, waiting until you have time to take them to an electronics recycler? Here is an opportunity to unload them! Reston Association is holding a collection at their Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 21 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at the Walker Nature Center. Items will be recycled by Turtle Wings, a company RA located through the REACT Reducing Workplace Waste project. Computer monitors, CPUs, printers, microwaves, and stereos will be recycled for $8 per item. (No TVs.) Keyboards, mice, cables, and speakers are recycled for free. The service includes security cleansing and identity theft protection. (The RA collection truck will be located next to the REACT table, so say hi while you’re there!)
In addition, Sprint is providing free cell phone recycling.
Environmentalists say the rising tide of electronic waste is slowly degrading in landfills and rivers here and abroad, posing a serious threat to water and air. Computers, televisions and other advanced devices contain neurotoxins and carcinogens such as lead and beryllium metal that are leaching into waterways and entering the air through burning or dust.
With little notice, e-waste has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the country’s solid waste stream, and technology products now account for as much as 49 percent of the lead in U.S. landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Washington Post, January 21, 2005
PROJECTS
Seven neighborhoods have completed the Reston Recycles! project! That means that 500 households (yes, it actually adds up to 500 exactly) have received neighborhood-specific information on how to recycle. Every participating neighborhood increased their amount of recycling, as well as decreased their contamination with non-recyclables. Plus, after the program is complete, REACT occasionally sends recycling updates (like the computer recycling announcement above) to the Reston Recycles! volunteers to include in their neighborhood newsletter, website, or other distribution method.
Who’s next? We’re ready for you! It’s an easy project that takes place over a couple of months that not only increases recycling, but also neighbor interaction.
Contact info@restonenvironmentalaction.org or 703-620-0151 for more information.
And here is yet another benefit to participating in Reston Recycles! After completing that project, neighborhoods can take part in Close the Loop. In this project, residents receive information on buying recycled-content and durable items, as well as a reusable shopping bag. (Did you know your tissue may come from the Canadian boreal forest?)
All participating neighborhoods have reported an increase in the purchase of recycled content products. That’s one more step in saving energy, reducing pollution, and preventing greenhouse gas emissions.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Reducing Workplace Waste
Committee members are discussing ways to share the successes that Reston Association achieved after participating in REACT’s Reducing Workplace Waste project with other Reston businesses, organizations, and institutions.
Hazardous Waste Disposal Next meeting: Monday, Wednesday, April 18, 6:00 pm, 2066 Headlands Circle.
The county website provides excellent information on how to prepare hazardous waste for disposal. However, questions still arise as to what specific types of waste are included. Committee members are obtaining this information as well as extra steps that should be taken to organize a neighborhood-wide collection.
If your neighborhood has ever conducted a household hazardous waste collection, please tell us about it at info@restonenvironmentalaction.org or 703-620-0151.
Environmental Yard and Garden Care Next meeting: Monday, April 30, 7:00 p.m. at 2218 Wheelwright Court.
The committee has assembled draft handouts with information on reducing of synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use, increasing the use of native plants and the removal of exotic plants, creating healthy soil with compost, and helping the watershed with rain barrels.
Drive Less, Breathe Better Next Meeting: Monday, April 30, 7:30 pm, RCC Lake Anne.
Committee members are continuing to investigate Walk/Bike/Bus to School Days in Reston, and to develop a neighborhood project to encourage less driving. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, each gallon of gas saved keeps twenty pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!
Check www.restonenvironmentalaction.org for committee updates, meeting dates, and other REACT news. If you would like to participate in Reston Recycles! or want to join a committee, contact Mary Brown at info@restonenvironmentalaction.org or 703-620-0151.
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