Drop-Off Heavy Trash Day Proves To Be Successful(posted Oct 6) The Speedway Solid Waste Commission and Street Department had four containers filled with heavy trash by early afternoon on October 6. That amount did not include the volumes of recycled items diverted from landfill thanks to coordinated efforts of the Goldsmith Group and Shred-It. Street Commissioner Wendell Walters noted they were near capacity by noon and would probably need another roller bed from Omni Source before they closed at 2 pm. Walters indicated the scrap metal was diverted the landfill and will be recycled. Solid Waste Commissioner Sandra Ellwanger noted that there had been a steady stream of customers to dispose of their electronics, computers, bed mattresses, carpeting and appliances from the time the gates opened at 9 am. Dawn Goodloe of the Goldsmith Group captured about 50 monitors and 20 PCs by noon. She said the company is hazardous material certified so they can dismantle the monitors that contain about 6 pounds of lead powder each. Goodloe explained that it important to keep the computers out of the landfill to prevent the lead leaching into the ground that could eventually end up in the water supply. The monitors and PCs are gutted and the parts are then outsourced to various commodity companies for recycling. In conjunction with the recycling efforts at Street Department, Speedway Police hosted a mobile paper shredding operation in support of Crime Stoppers. Julie Hoskins, account supervisor of Shred-It, said the cost of $5 per box is dedicated to Crime Stoppers in an effort to protect people from identity theft. Hoskins, who serves on the board of Crime Stoppers, credited the day's success to Town Councilor Lu Hillmer's organization and the media attention they received in Speedway. Speedway served as one of the four community shredding sites Saturday. Shred-It trucks were located at Lawrence, Noblesville and Greenwood. The company donated all of the proceeds to Crime Stoppers. Hoskins became involved with Crime Stoppers because she has a passion for preventing identity theft. "Crime Stoppers needs the funding," she said. She also noted that retired Speedway Police Lt. Bill Jones is very active with Crime Stoppers. Hillmer said she was amazed of the number of people that had held onto boxes of material for decades that they were unable to destroy of properly. To prevent identity theft, the material is crossed shredded and then recycled into low grade paper products like cereal boxes, toilet paper and paper towels. She noted that paper clips and staples do not need to be removed because the recyclers will accept one percent contamination. By noon, William Skaggs and Quincy Hurt had shred more than 75 participants' boxes of documents. Hoskins said she organized the first community shredded-it in 2001. It was the first one in the world and it happened in Indiana. The idea has since proliferated in other Crime Stoppers communities across the country. |
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