Bikes and E-Waste — Drop-off at Green Block Party

You know that Apple IIc sitting in your closet? Or that second bike taking up most of your storage space? Stop wasting space and the objects by dropping them off at the block party! Lower East Side Ecology Center will be collecting old electronics from 10am to 4pm. Show up with your old tv, vcr, Atari, just about anything. Recycle-A-Bicycle will be collecting old bikes from 11am to 5pm. In both cases, it’s okay to bring something that doesn’t work. Need more reason to donate? Read on after the jump! According to the EPA, electronics represent only 1% of the volume but are responsible for 70% of the toxins found in landfills. Recycling your electronics saves energy and keeps those toxins out of our water and air. Plus, it is now illegal for New Yorkers to dispose of electronics in the landfill. Lower East Side Ecology Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to community recycling, composting, and environmental education. Recycle-A-Bicycle is also a non-profit organization that incorporates recycling into its mission and programs. RAB has two storefronts where they sell refurbished bikes, the revenue goes to support youth programming. In the past year alone, more than 1,000 RAB youth collectively refurbished 500 bicycles, pedaled 10,000 miles, and burned 1,500,000 calories. On average, RAB salvages 1,200 bicycles each year from the waste stream, diverting a total of 36,000 pounds of waste from NYC’s landfills. Some of the bikes are refurbished pretty much as they are. Other bikes are “cannibalized” or broken down into usable parts and anything remaining is recycled as scrap metal.