E-Cycle

Habitat’s E-Cycling Event a Huge Success

The electronics recycling fundraiser held by Green County Habitat for Humanity (GCHFH) on Saturday was nothing short of remarkable.   Trucks were still being loaded Monday morning as the drive collected more than 230 pallets of discarded electronics, enough to fill five  semi-trucks.  Vintage Tech Recyclers will pay Habitat by the pound for their collection efforts. I n addition to the funds raised, there is an additional benefit to the community.  The event offered local residents the opportunity to get rid of these unwanted items “free of charge” and five semi loads of electronics will NOT end up in Green County landfills.

“When planning this event, we were optimistic that we could get the word out enough to collect a truck load of electronics”, said Dan Blum, GCHFH Vice President and Fundraising Committee Chairperson.   “Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would have this kind of turn out.” 

The overwhelming turnout by the community  caught us off guard, and we had to scramble to get enough help and supplies to handle the project.  said Carol Holmes, GCHFH President.   We owe thanks and gratitude to so many who were so gracious and giving. 

In the MonroeTimes tradition, let us give “Blossoms” to the following:

First, we would like to thank the Minhas Craft Brewery for hosting the event.  With the unexpected amounts of electronics,  we needed help moving product around and Minhas employees volunteered their time to help out. A special thanks to Mike Connelly, Dennis Cleveland and Wayne Rosenstiel who offered fork truck support.

Second,  we found ourselves in a bind when the semi truck that was planned to show up at noon on Saturday was stuck  waiting to be unloaded elsewhere and couldn’t make it until the next morning.  Thanks to Louis Scherer of Scherer Moving and Storage who came over with their truck to help us out.

Third, a big Thanks the Monroe Police for their patience and understanding as they worked   with us to expeditiously clear the streets and keep the vehicles moving as quickly as possible. We just never anticipated a 3 block traffic jam.

Thanks to Genthe Appliance who offered  the use of their truck to accomplish pick ups around the city for people who could not deliver.

Of course, thanks to all the volunteers who worked  relentlessly  for 8 hours on Saturday and another 5 hours on Sunday to unload, pack, stack, sort, and wrap the 230 pallets of products.

And last, but not least, Thanks to all who donated their unwanted electronics.  Many of you waited patiently in the long line to get your items unloaded.

For those of you who were not able to take advantage of this opportunity, we ask that you hang onto your recyclable electronic items until spring as we plan to offer this service again at that time.  We learned a lot and will definitely improve the process the next time.