INTRO: Both state and federal government plan to make recycling a key part of the new economy. In one part of the state over weekend, ordinary people rose to the call to do the right thing. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports.
TRX1: Ever dropped a tv or computer into their garbage can? Do you feel guilty about spreading pollution? You might have felt better going to a drop it off site in Lansing Saturday. People like Diane from Diamondale just kept coming and kept waiting. The line of cars was more than a mile long.
AX1: “Well I have been in line for an hour and 15 minutes and I bet we have atleast another 10-15 to go.”
TRX2: Diane’s car was one of about 1,000 filled with electronic waste. TV’s sticking out of trunks. Trailers full of computers. Cell phones, stereos. People cleaned out their basements and garages and drove to a warehouse belonging to the Ingham County Road Commission.
AX2: “We have enough trash in our environment now. We don’t need to add to it.”
TRX3: People’s consciences have been weighing down on them. Shay Zinker and her husband drove from Eaton Rapids. They’ve upgraded computer screens and hard drives many times. The old models are in the back of their van.
AX3: “That’s why we’ve had them for years. We never could really justify just throwing away. So now that we found about this we were excited. I think everybody is being encouraged to recycle. Go green all that. I think it’s just the right thing to do now. It’s excellent. I think it’s about time.”
TRX4: In California, there are 15 communities that call themselves Zero Waste. They want to educate the public so soil and water is not contaminated and landfills are not jammed up more. A website called earth911.com argues that 99% of computers, tv’s and cell phones can be recycled. Kevin Brown Romey Fitschen have waited an hour and a half while their car engine idles.
AX4: “The monitors and stuff have toxic metals. They have mercury. They have lead in them. And the other thing is if they’re being recycled there are usable products that are valuable. I mean it’s expensive to tear this stuff out and reconstitute than just to dump. I did question that we’re all sitting here using this gas. What’s the environmental trade off.”
AX5: “That’s 644 cars so far. How do you do sir? What’s your zip code please.?
TRX5: Steve Chalker is Lansing’s Recycling coordinator. He’s tallying up how many cars enter the warehouse to unload.
AX6: “Can I help you sir.”
TRX6: A middle aged guy has stepped out of his car. He’s on foot and hasn’t waited his turn.
AX7: “I’m more of the I would like to use the computers. That’s great but no. This company is recycling this, some of it for a profit and they’re not in the position to do that today. /I just refurbish this stuff. It’s all good useful stuff. It’s not that the computer is broke. It’s that one or two components have blown up. / What do you do with all the old cases and circuit boards you got laying around? I’ve got 25 computers at my house./ Well what we often get is people who’ve done the hobbyist computer activity for a number of years who finally want to get rid of 20 cannibalized computers and they are finally able to get rid of. / Well I’m still using the stuff. 99% is still useful stuff.”
TRX7: Inside inmates from the county jail are packing up tv’s with swaths of clear tape. 5 units across and 5 units high. Linda McFarland owns Classic Computer Recovery in Garden City.
AX8: “We have four semis that are coming in here one after another to get this stuff out of here. It’s a lot of material. It’s only from a fraction, 1 25th of the population. 1 percent.”
TRX8: The material ended up weighing about 100,000 pounds. McFarland paid $15,000 for labor and transportation. She wanted consumers to be aware of the mountains of waste they’d make when the country was to switch from analog to digital tv Feb 17, though Congress just delayed it to June 12.
AX9: “If we were to not do anything with the tvs……..
TRX9: McFarland says she’ll recover some materials but not make a profit. She’s just trying to be at the forefront of a movement to turn problems into opportunities. She says every community in every state needs to organize. Create a market that doesn’t really exist yet.
AX10: “recycling of anything is not the best business case. But you need to get the for profit businesses involved with the government. With some mandates. With the city solid waste agencies and if we all come together we can solve the business case. Until we do that we’ll never solve the business case. We’ll never solve this problem. We’ve gotta turn this into a profit.”
TRX10: One of the workers lost his grip on a hefty television set. It hits the floor and hopefully no lead or mercury spilled out.
AX11: “How hard is this job? Depends on how heavy the tv is? How many you dropped? Today just one.”
TRX11: For 150 years, Michigan’s economy has been based on producing things and throwing them away. From lumber, to copper, iron and cars. But average people appear ready for a new industry. Getting money and a cleaner environment out of electronic waste.