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Electronic Recycling this Weekend!
Don’t forget to clear out the clutter this Saturday when you can get rid of your broken or obsolete electronics at the Kingwood Metro lot. CompuCycle is a responsible recycler with their headquarters and de-manufacturing facility right here in Houston. Monthly, Lake Houston area residents drop off six to ten tons at this six hour event.
While the event is sponsored by the City of Houston, CompuCycle will take most items from non residents. The only restrictions are on TV’s and monitors. These items do not have enough recoverable components to make the de-manufacturing economically feasible. Since the City does not want these units going to the landfill or dumped in a back alley somewhere, they do pay a supplement to CompuCycle to responsibly recycle these two pieces of electronics. So, only City residents can drop off these items. CompuCycle will take any other electronics listed on their website from everyone.
While it is easy to hide small electronics in your trash can, Keep Kingwood Green urges you to take advantage of this free collection event instead. The resources you save are important and the hazardous materials recovered will not be buried in the Atascocita landfill.
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Spring B.O.P.A. April 29th
The B.O.P.A (Batteries, Oil, Paint and Antifreeze), Major Appliance, Scrap Metal collection event is coming to Kingwood on Saturday April 29th, from 9 AM to 1 PM
Note that the City Solid Waste crew stops taking items at 1 PM. Please get there before 1 PM! In addition Junky Business will be there to collect appliances, (large and small), scrap metal, and lead/acid batteries. You can contact Pete if you have questions as to what he will take. His phone number is on this website.
Look for the Keep Kingwood Green tent at the front entrance to the parking lot. We would love to have your old cell or smart phone if you wish to donate it to us. Drop it off at our tent. No need to go through the line if that is all you are bringing. No other electronics will be accepted that day. Electronic collections are always the first Saturday of every month at the same location.
If you can’t make it to the B.O.P.A. but have items to drop off, there are alternatives. Go to our website and check out these alternatives under the B.O.P.A. section. We always have residents who do not realize that this event is only for the items listed above. If you have oil based paint or other hazardous substances you will have to take it to one of the ESC’s. Click on our website to get that information.
Since the B.O.P.A. is sponsored by the City of Houston and Councilman Dave Martin, only City of Houston residents are eligible to drop off at this event. If you live in Harris County outside of the City or an adjacent county you must take your items to the county facility. Again, information is available on our website. The only exception is that Junky Business will take lead acid batteries, scrap metal and appliances from anyone. He does ask that any appliances be cleaned out with no food residues inside.
Last year at the two B.O.P.A.’s in Kingwood you recycled over 27 tons of materials. Start now to collect your items to bring on the 29th! We look forward to seeing you.
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National Drug Take-Back tentatively scheduled for April 29th
On Saturday, April 29th from 10 AM to 2 PM - at locations around Houston, but Kingwood is not confirmed yet.
The DEA and Houston Police is offering another safe prescription drugs disposal opportunity on Saturday, April 29th. Keep Kingwood Green was not able to confirm that we will have a collection event here in Kingwood, but we'll send out a News Alert, as soon as we know for sure.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse and medications.
Consumers may also continue to utilize the guidelines How to Dispose of Unused Medicines as posted by the FDA if they are not able to attend a scheduled Take-Back Day.
Another option is to drive to a Walgreen store which has a drug disposal kiosk at their location. The closest location is at 105 West Road, Houston, TX 77037 or another 24H Walgreens at 6610 Tidwell Road, Houston, TX 77016.
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Smoke Detectors
Almost everything is recyclable. The question is: are we willing to pay the price? Sometimes we hear about cities that are working to achieve Zero Waste. In other words, nothing goes to the landfill everything is recycled or reused. Houston is a long way from there, but bit by bit here at Keep Kingwood Green, we continue to try to make a difference.
We recently had an e-mail from Jerry, who wanted to know how to properly dispose of an old smoke detector. Almost all smoke detectors have a small amount of radioactive material inside. You would think they would be collected as hazardous waste. It turns out the City will not take them at their hazardous waste or ESC facilities. Our electronic recycling company, CompuCycle, will not take them. Checking for state guidelines we can’t find any and the Federal guidelines indicate that lacking state or local requirements, they can be disposed of in the regular trash.
After we dug into the situation a little farther, we found a facility in New Mexico that says they will recycle them for a fee. Some of the manufacturers also will take them back for recycling, some with a fee, some only if you pay to ship it back to them. So, that is probably the responsible thing to do. Are we willing to pay the price? Go through the hassle? It is much like the situation with single use batteries, most people throw them in the trash. Day by day the mountain in Atascocita gets bigger and bigger. Add a bit of radioactivity to the landfill mix with thousands of these smoke detectors going there each year. There ought to be a law! That is our opinion. We would like to hear yours.
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Passing of the torch!
Recycling is not exactly like the Olympics, but running a non-profit organization like Keep Kingwood Green almost seems like an Olympic competition sometimes. After nearly ten years as the president of the board of KKG, I asked the board to elect a new President this year. It is time to pass the torch.
The organization is run by a board of directors. We are all non paid volunteers and we all spend lots of hours each year helping with recycling events, answering questions, working with elected officials and public and private employees to educate about and advocate for more and better recycling options in the Kingwood and Lake Houston area. Like at the Olympics we have our successes but sometimes we don’t win.
I got into this position many years ago when I took my recycling down to the Park and Ride lot on a Sunday afternoon. At that time the City brought a few bins out on Friday and came back on Monday to pick them up. There was no monitoring or replacement of the bins during the weekend. That particular day, the bins were stuffed full and there were massive piles of recyclable materials stacked all around the bins. I took a couple pictures, went home and sent a note to then Mayor Bill White, telling him this was completely unacceptable. The next morning I got a call from the director of solid waste, asking me to help them find a permanent recycling site in Kingwood. We were never able to accomplish that, but with the City’s help and the help of Councilmen Mike Sullivan and Dave Martin, we have accomplished lots over years.
Some cities are aiming for zero waste and I suspect Houston will decide to aim for that goal someday, too. Here in Kingwood, with lots of curbside recycling, the events at the Park and Ride, and limited recycling at the schools, we are on our way. Still a long way to go! Herlinda Gonzalez has taken the challenge to lead our organization. She is smart, she has a passion for recycling, and she has lots of good plans and lots of energy. I know she will take KKG to the next level!
As for me, I will continue working with the group. They told me I couldn’t retire. But maybe I will have a bit more time to tend to my garden, the school garden I volunteer at, and my compost heap. Thank you all for caring and making Kingwood a better place to live. -
Thank you - Hal Oppermann!
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How Can You Give Feedback or Ask Questions?
Visit our web site! Contact us via email. We also maintain a Facebook page. Like us or Follow us!
Call us 713-206-0558 and leave a message. One of our volunteers will get back to you as fast as possible.
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