Volunteer Voices

While Kermit the Frog doesn’t think it’s easy being green, the Habitat for Humanity e-waste volunteers would beg to differ. Since the onset of the program in 2011, e-waste volunteers have been working diligently to keep Door County and landfills throughout the country clean of computers, TVs and numerous small electronics.

Leslie Boden, Habitat ReStore manager and guru of all things “repurposed,” says the recycling events that Habitat holds several times throughout the year provide an additional revenue stream for Habitat to build local homes.

“We work with a certified recycler, which means that they have ethical recycling practices which guarantees that things aren’t going into waterways and landfills or being shipped to third world countries. Every part of the items collected gets broken down, chipped, stripped and recycled,” Boden explains. She also emphasizes that the Door County ReStore is one of the few places that actually accepts electronics on a daily basis, not just at their recycling events, which is where the need for volunteers comes in.

“We have such a committed group of volunteers. A number of our volunteers have been with Habitat for years and have now ‘adopted’ the recycling program, too,” says Boden. “We have people who have volunteered as part of a jobs program and now that they’re gainfully employed, they still come back to volunteer weekly. We’re a family here and supportive of each other.” But with the growth of the e-waste program (they’ve collected more than 495,000 pounds of electronic waste to date), more volunteers are needed.

“We really need volunteers for this program so that we can continue to do more of the e-waste events,” said Boden. In 2013, Habitat held one e-waste event but have four events in 2014. “Volunteers help to direct traffic and unload vehicles. Last year at our event in Brussels, there was about a 1½-hour wait. This year, we collected about the same amount of e-waste, but there wasn’t any waiting because we doubled the number of volunteers we had working. That’s what we’d like to always see.”

In addition to their e-waste volunteer needs, the ReStore is looking for help as well. Store volunteers assist customers with purchases, do display work, pick up donated items and help maneuver their ever-changing inventory of items. “Things are always changing in the store, so it helps to be versatile,” said Boden.

Boden also is looking to the future with continuing needs for repurposing items. “Dane County has a recycling program for lumber involved with the Emerald Ash Borer issue, making the lumber usable for artists and flooring. They believe almost one million trees may be affected and I’d love to think that we could be part of a program like that and actually be able to use the lumber to build some of our homes.”

There is no lack of energy or excitement from Boden about the projects that could be on the horizon for the recycling programs of Door County Habitat, but she knows that they’ll need more people to be part of the process. “All of these recycling programs take manpower, but wouldn’t it be amazing to be part of these cool things happening?”

We think so.

Habitat’s next e-waste recycling event is scheduled for Aug. 30 in Sister Bay. For more information or for questions about volunteer opportunities with Habitat for Humanity and the ReStore, contact Leslie Boden at 920.743.2869 or [email protected].

For additional volunteer opportunities throughout Door County, visit VolunteerDoorCounty.com or call the Volunteer Center at 920.746.7704.