Warren recycling organizers flush with success

“It was the best day ever. It definitely exceeded what we had anticipated,” gushed Amy Sarver, organizer of the first Recycle-O-Rama at the Warren Township Center. She is the director of operations at the Warren Township Highway Department which conducts a year-round residential electronics recycling. SWALCO, Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, was a co-sponsor of the event.

From 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, cars, SUVs and trucks kept streaming into the center off Washington Street in Gurnee, dropping off household items that had seen better days. Were it not for programs such as the one in Gurnee, they would have been dumped at the landfill — a no-no under the Illinois Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act. The crisp, sunny autumn weather, no doubt, helped with the program’s success.

“This is fantastic, great for my kids and their future,” said Kathy Strathman of Gurnee, mother three girls, ages 7-15. She brought with her a computer, a television set, a printer and “a lot of batteries.”

Mike Zullo of Wildwood drove up to a paper- shredding operation with a big box of tax records, canceled pay checks and old credit-card statements.

“It’s easier to have them shredded here than doing it myself at home,” said Zullo who also brought with him cans of latex paint, electronics and eye glasses.

Because of the rising demand for document shredding, two trucks equipped with giant shredding machines were brought to the Warren Township Center. The special trucks were designed to enable people to see through a small screen their papers being shredded so as to ease their mind.

“We expect to shred eight tons of documents today. Last year, four tons were shredded,” said township Supervisor Sue Simpson.

Peter Adrian, SWALCO recycle coordinator, estimated as many as 40,000 pounds of electronics were brought in by people for recycling.

Environmentally conscious residents also dropped off more than 500 pairs of used gym shoes and 94 child car seats, according to Sarver. Receiving the car seats was handled at the site by members of the Gurnee Police Department.

Handling the gym shoes was no duck soup. The metal eyelids had to be cut out first, which was what Rima Thakkar, 17, a senior at Warren High School, was doing with a pair of scissors.

“It’s a little hard, but we must take care of the environment,” she said.

She was among a group of volunteers who helped unload boxes and bags of items from arriving vehicles and then sort them out into bins and containers marked for books, keys, crayons, eyeglasses and so forth.

Roy Triveline, a biology teacher at Warren High School who is adviser to the school’s Environmental Club, said, “It’s everybody’s responsibility to help the environment.”

Besides the club members, other volunteers included members of the Mother Earth Council from the school and also those from Boy Scout Troop 672.

Flush with the success, Sarver was already talking about an encore for next year with a bigger and more ambitious recycling program to help the environment.