This post is by guest blogger Erinne White, a freelance writer and
editor based in Ottawa. Erinne moved to Ottawa partly because of its
parks and green spaces, and would like to see the city develop a
greener culture. Erinne writes:
I found this place listed in the City of Ottawa Take it Back program,
so it is easy for a devoted recycler to find. But it was such a
revelation when I actually went there that I thought
I’d share what I found out.
This place, Computer Recyclers, takes back all kinds of things that
we feel bad about throwing in the garbage, and guarantees complete
end-of-life recycling. I understand them to mean that no parts go
into the garbage. The guy I dealt with told me that nothing they
accept will go to a landfill, either here or overseas. You pay about
50 cents per pound, so for three large bags of stuff I paid about $8.
I brought cassette tapes, computer floppy disks, CDs and even the
plastic cases for the cassette tapes. Oh, and I also brought a bunch
of old electrical cords and a pair of broken headphones.
Their website doesn’t say much about what they will take, but the guy
I talked to told me they would take plastics that are not recyclable
by the City, such as old plant pots (I guess they should be
relatively clean first). You might want to double-check before
bringing random plastics, but they did take all my plastic cassette
tape cases! They also take computers free of charge.
Computer Recyclers Inc., 163 MacFarlane Road, Ottawa, K2E 6V4, (613) 723-3135
P.S. When you look at the pricing you don’t have to worry about the higher
“secure destruction” fees – those are for organizations with security
concerns regarding information on their disks, etc.
Green Living Ottawa 