Pheasants Forever recycles cell phones, printer cartridges and laptop computers to fund youth conservation education
Bird hunters can use unwanted electronics to create tomorrow's conservationists.
Source: mdc.mo.gov
Published: Sep. 22, 2006
JEFFERSON CITY, MO - Do you have a useless old cell phone lying around your house? How about a broken laptop computer? Do you throw away toner cartridges from your computer printer when they are exhausted? Pheasants Forever (PF) has a way of turning your high-tech trash into valuable conservation assets.
PF and its offshoot group, Quail Forever (QF), have joined forces with Access Computer Products Inc. (ACPI) of Loveland, Colo., to turn trash into conservation treasures. Through its Cartridges for Kids program, the company offers cooperating organizations cash payments for sending in recyclable technology items.
Items of interest to ACPI include cell phones, personal digital assistants, MP3 players, I-pods, laptop computers and computer printer cartridges (except Epson). These items can be worth as little as 10 cents or as much as $80.
Although the value per item is not huge, the number of such items lying around homes and offices or going to landfills in the trash each day is. In fact, since it started the Cartridges for Kids program in 1999, ACPI has paid out more than $8 million to schools and other community-based cooperators.
That is why PF has taken an interest in the program. PF has prepaid mailers large enough to hold two or three cell phones or several small printer cartridges. These or larger containers for shipping laptop computers or large printer cartridges are available on request from pheasants@cartridgesforkids.com.
PF and QF get cash for items ACPI receives through the conservation groups' efforts. PF and QF use proceeds from the program to support their Ringnecks and Whistlers youth programs. These support local chapters' efforts to organize workshops that teach youngsters about outdoor activities from orienteering to hunting.
Many also provide opportunities for young participants to put their knowledge into practice. In this way, PF and QF hope to "connect youth to nature" and mentor the next generation of conservationists.
For more information about Cartridges for Kids, visit www.cartridgesforkids.com, or call (800) 420-0235. For more information about QF and PF, visit www.pheasantsforever.org, or call (877) 773-2070.
• More Missouri News • More State Wildlife News • Missouri Forum BoardReader Comments
0 Comments on Pheasants Forever recycles cell phones, printer cartridges and laptop computers to fund youth conservation education
