CEDAR RAPIDS - Need a place to drop off your old computer, power tools or cabinets? How about worn-out blue jeans, golf balls and crayons?
Recycling collections this week will allow area residents to dispose of these products and more in an environmentally friendly way.
Green Iowa AmeriCorps is the driving force behind two of the collections.
The group is working on weatherization, energy efficiency and educational efforts in Linn and Black Hawk counties.
“It’s for the good of the community and it helps the environment,” said Traci Popejoy, a Green Iowa AmeriCorps member coordinating the collection of quirky items, such as tennis balls and wine corks.
Popejoy has found outlets for the recyclables, including a company that turns unwearable blue jeans into denim insulation and a group that melts crayon pieces to reuse.
Charitable organizations, such as the Lions Club, also benefit from Thursday’s collection, she said.
Electronics will be collected at a Green Iowa AmeriCorps event Sunday.
Working electronics will be donated to local causes and others will be recycled by Midwest Electronic Recovery.
Styrofoam packaging – one of the items not accepted in curbside recycling in Cedar Rapids – also will be accepted at that collection for reuse.
The Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency is behind a separate recycling drive of waste wood.
Stacie Johnson, the agency’s education coordinator, said not everyone is aware they can take their old flooring, bookcases or other wood products to recycle at the landfill at 2250 A St. SW.
The biomass wood recovery program recycles the items into fuel used as an alternative to coal and oil.
“We’re trying to get more people to realize they can recycle wood rather than landfill it,” Johnson said.
There is a cost to dropping off the items at the landfill, but during recycling collections at both Menards locations on Saturday, drop off is free.
The other recycling collections also are free, but a fee of $5 to $15 will be charged for older televisions and computer monitors at Sunday’s event at Lindale Mall.
Other items, such as telephones and stereos, will be recycled with a requested $1 donation.
Event details:
– Green Iowa AmeriCorps recycling collection
Hy-Vee parking lot, 20 Wilson Ave. SW
4-7 p.m. Thursday, July 29
Accepted items: plastic bottle caps, blue jeans, tennis balls, golf balls, crayons, wine corks, hearing aids, keys and eyeglasses.
– Solid Waste Agency waste wood recycling
Menards, 2800 Wiley Blvd. SW and 4601 First Ave. SE
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 31
Accepted items: building materials, such as boards and plywood; building products, including cabinets, countertops, doors and flooring; landscape debris, such as stumps and logs; crates and pallets; furniture, such as bookcases, shelves, desks, dressers and headboards. Attached hardware is acceptable. Treated wood from decking, fencing and railroad ties or wood covered with lead-based paint is not accepted.
– Green Iowa AmeriCorps electronics collection
Lindale Mall parking lot, Collins Road entrance near the food court
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 1
Accepted items: Styrofoam packaging, televisions, VCRs, toasters, phones, blenders, IPods, power tools, radios, computers, Christmas lights, keyboards and mice, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, software and other computer equipment. Some items require a collection fee; $1 donation for others.