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DSU Library and Student Senate Holding Green Fundraiser

The Karl E. Mundt Library and the DSU Student Senate have joined with the program EcoPhones for a green fundraiser.  EcoPhones accepts and pays for small electronic items for recycling. Money raised through the recycling project will be used by the library for the purchase of recreational materials such as DVDs for the library collection.  Boxes to collect recycled items will be placed at the library and at the Trojan Center on campus as well as at the Madison Public Library. 

Items accepted by the program include: cell phones, ink jet cartridges, DVD’s, laptop/notebook computers, MP3 players, digital cameras, digital video recorders, digital picture frames, GPS devices, portable DVD players, video games, and video game consoles.   These items are accepted whether in working condition or not.

According to the program EcoPhones, on average Americans replace their cell phones every 12-18 months which means that an estimated 130 million cell phones will be discarded annually. Cell phones contain toxic substances including Arsenic, Antimony, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Nickel and Zinc which leach into soil and groundwater from landfills and form highly toxic dioxins & furans during incineration. These toxins have been associated with cancer and a range of reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders. The cadmium from a single phone is capable of polluting 158,200 gallons of water.  Also of note is that approximately 300 million ink jet cartridges are thrown away each year. The production of a single cartridge requires 2 and 1/2 ounces of oil.

Photo:  Jake Heckmann (l) Vice-President Student Senate and Chase Anderton (r) President Student Senate