Schools turn trash into cash

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Mat-Su schools are taking old cell phones and used printer cartridges and turning them into a profit, to pay for books and school supplies.

Swanson Elementary School started the Cartridges for Kids program this year after first-grade teacher Carol Boatman learned about it from the staff at Teeland Middle School. Since then, scores of empty cartridges have come piling in.

"We just decided, as a first-grade staff, to run this program," Boatman said. "The kids bring in the cartridges and cell phones and we were really surprised at how many we got."

Swanson just mailed out six boxes of recyclable goods. In a few weeks the school should receive a check from Cartridges for Kids for the cartridges and phones that can be recycled and resold through CFK's parent company, Access Computer Products.

CFK has collected and recycled printer cartridges from schools and organizations for more than eight years. It estimates that more than 250 million pounds of empty cartridges are thrown into landfills, along with as many as 500 million cell phones. That translates into about 200,000 tons of waste that could be recycled.

Teeland Middle School started CFK last year when school secretary Danita McLaughlin received a flyer in the mail.

"It's a good program to teach kids to recycle this stuff and not just throw it all away," McLaughlin said. "I think each school should have a recycle center."

Teeland received its first check this year for $115 and already the next box is filling up.

At Swanson, Boatman said the kids have really gotten into the program.

"I had one student bring in about 20 ink cartridges," she said. "The parents are really into it, too. It's been a real community effort."

Over at Mat-Su College, Network Administrator Finn Rye is doing his part to help the recycling effort.

Rye's daughter attends Swanson and he decided to put boxes and flyers around the college.

"I'm just doing it on my own," he said. "Most people just throw those things away, but if schools can get money, then that's all the better."

CFK pays for all shipping costs to its two warehouses in Colorado and Utah, where the company receives an estimated 400 boxes of printer cartridges and cell phones every day from across the country.

"This is an environmentally friendly fund-raiser," said Deanna House, HR director for CFK. "It helps the kids and the environment."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.