Estes Recycles Day is tomorrow, Saturday, August 10, and it’s the only opportunity this year for Estes area residents and small businesses to drop off difficult-to-recycle items.
Computers, monitors, CFL lightbulbs, appliances that are at least 50% metal and more can be recycled at the Estes Park Events Center parking lot (off Manford Avenue) from 9 a.m. to noon.
The following can be recycled during the event for no fee:
• CFL lightbulbs
• Bike tires & tubes
• Scrap metal & microwaves (no glass plates), limit five for larger items
• Small electronics such as tablets, e-readers, VCR players, cable boxes, video game consoles, home printers, copiers & scanners, fax machines, stereos, phones, cameras, routers, cables, computer speakers, small kitchen equipment, electric toothbrushes, hair dryers and similar appliances.
For a small fee, the following are also accepted (limit five per person for larger items):
• Computers ($5)
• TVs/monitors ($10-$20)
• Smoke detectors ($5)
In addition, the event will have document shredding onsite (stapled paper are OK), with a limit of three banker’s boxes worth per person. Document shredding is sponsored by the Noon Rotary, which will be accepting donations for their scholarship program.
Organized by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, Estes Recycles Day is a break-even operation, funded by grants and staffed by up to 70 volunteers. It’s organized by a sub-committee of the League with 18 members on the steering committee meeting once per month since March.
On July 31, the League was honored with the Environmental Stewardship Award for last year’s Estes Recycles Day by the Larimer County Commissioners. “In 2023 504 households participated with 63 volunteers assisting, collecting 6,910 pounds of electronics in 2022 and a whopping 21,639 pounds of electronics in 2023,” stated Larimer County in its announcement.
This year is projected to be an even bigger event, despite the uncertainty of whether it will happen at all: up until yesterday, the space at the Event Center was being used for evacuees of the Alexander Mountain Fire.
Evacuation orders have been lifted, so the League jumped on getting Estes Recycles Day (ERD) ready for tomorrow.
Cathy Alper stepped into the role of chairperson of the ERD soon after she moved to Estes Park and joined the League of Women Voters in 2018.
“I like leading organized meetings that keep things moving forward,” she said, stating that her talents include finding volunteers and investing in their strengths.
Alice Reuman, a key member of the recycling committee and the League, moved to Estes Park in 2011. “At one time, I was an urban planner in the areas of conservation and recreation.” Reuman said that recycling is very important, not only because we are running out of space in the landfills (that create methane gas contributing toglobal warming) but also because “a lot of these metals are becoming more scarce” worldwide.
Glass and aluminum cans can be recycled forever, she said, and the “goal is to have a circular economy,” where things are created, consumed, reused and then recycled in a responsible and environmentally sustainable way.
The event costs approximately $18,000 to put on, said Alper, and is funded this year by grants from the Town of Estes Park, the Village Thrift Shop, Premier Members Credit Union, and Sunrise Rotary.
For the first time this year, recycled items from small businesses will also be accepted.
For more information on what can and cannot be recycled at this event, visit the ERD website.