Tag: greener behrend

Behrend campus recycles 7,219 pounds of electronics

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By Steve Orbanek
Marketing Communications Specialist, Penn State Behrend

What does 7,219 pounds look like?

Imagine two hippopotamuses, fourteen gorillas, or two cars, and you’ll have an accurate picture of the amount of electronics collected May 8 at the first Electronic Recycling Event at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

The event, co-sponsored by the Greener Behrend Task Force and Lion Surplus, allowed Penn State Behrend faculty members, staff, and students an opportunity to dispose of used electronics in an environmentally friendly way. Television sets, monitors, hard drives, printers, and DVD players were among some of the most collected items.

The 7,219 pounds filled ten pallets. From Erie, the items will be taken to the Lion Surplus facility at University Park to be sorted and sent out to various recycling vendors.

“With a television, the plastic, glass, and parts inside will be separated and go to different vendors,” said Annette Bottorf, a computer technician for Lion Surplus. “We are totally green. Nothing will go to the landfill, and when we contract a company, they have to guarantee us the same thing. Everything will be recycled and reused.”

Ann Quinn, faculty adviser for the Greener Behrend Task Force, said she was impressed with the turnout for the event, and she would like to see it return in the future.

“We really exceeded our expectations, and we filled a need,” Quinn said. “It also did not cost us a thing, which is wonderful.”

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Help needed for International Coastal Cleanup (free T-shirt and lunch!)

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By Heather Cass
Publications & Design Coordinator, Penn State Behrend

1,400 pounds – that’s the total weight in trash that 150 Penn State Behrend students, faculty members, and staff cleaned out of Fourmile creek during last year’s International Coastal Cleanup.

From the headwaters of the creek at Hartman Road in Greene Township through campus (Fourmile is the creek that runs through Wintergreen Gorge) and on to Napier Park in Wesleyville, volunteers collected 63 bags of trash and 58 bags of recyclable materials.

That’s a lot of cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and soda cans that didn’t make it into the lake (because, eventually, it all ends up in the lake!)

You have to step back and realize that the watershed is not just water,” said Ann Quinn, lecturer in biology and coordinator of Behrend’s International Coastal Cleanup. “It’s everything that leads into it.”

The Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup is an annual event in which volunteers collect garbage from more than a dozen sites in Erie County, including Presque Isle State Park.

This year’s cleanup event is scheduled for Saturday, September 21 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Can you help?  Faculty members and staff are needed to help lead student groups. Community members and children are welcome to participate, too.  Bring the whole family!

Volunteers will meet in front of Reed Union Building at 9:30 a.m.  All necessary materials (gloves, trash bags, etc.) will be provided, and you’ll also get a free T-shirt and a free lunch at Bruno’s after the cleanup.

Word to the wise: wear boots and/or shoes that can get wet & dirty!

If you can volunteer, please contact Ann Quinn at abq1 at psu.edu by Saturday, September 14!