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A campus E-Waste Drive held last week offered a place for the American University community to responsibly discard unwanted electronics—while preventing them from harming the environment.

On February 19, AU’s Sustainability and Zero Waste offices set up shop on East Campus and invited faculty, staff, students, and the surrounding community to donate unwanted technology like old cell phones, televisions, computers, and more. All items were picked up securely and wiped completely before being recycled for raw materials that can be reused.

“E-waste is a fun entry point for people because everybody has cords sitting around,” said sustainability manager Anna Parse Johnson. “It’s a fun way to engage people who might not be thinking about this as part of our waste footprint.”

AU’s E-Waste Drive was held during Campus Race to Zero Waste, an eight-week nationwide competition that challenges colleges and universities to reduce waste and increase diversion rates. In all, AU collected 433 pounds of items.

Electronic waste is a growing environmental problem in our interconnected world. Last year, the United Nations’ Global E-waste Monitor reported that electronic waste is increasing five times faster than documented recycling of those products.

In 2022, the world created a record 62 million tons of e-waste—up 82 percent from 2010. That tech trash would be roughly enough to fill 1.5 million 40-ton trucks, which would then form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator.

That staggering number means each item saved adds up. Reference librarian Kathryn Ray called AU’s E-Waste Drive “a gift from heaven” for her.  

Ray, who has worked at AU 21 years, had decades’ worth of outdated computers, collected over the years by her late husband, a computer programmer for Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT).

“Every time we got a new computer, my husband put the old one in the attic thinking maybe we’ll need to get into it,” Ray said. “But I wouldn’t have a clue what the passwords are…it was in the attic, out of sight and out of mind, but it seemed like a big waste.”

Before leaving for work, Ray loaded up the back of her Toyota Prius and drove to campus with two Apple iMac desktops, four laptops, a Pinwriter printer, old landline phones, a dead Bose speaker, a Gateway desktop computer, and a Compaq desktop purchased in the late ‘80s or early 90s.

Within minutes, a crew hauled it all away, some with wide eyes viewing technology from before they were alive. Now, Ray will have a little more space in her home, while those materials will have a second chance at life.

“The thing that was important to me was that there are some precious metals in there,” Ray said. “I hope someone will be able to use them.”

Learn more about how AU is doing in the Campus Race to Zero Waste and find resources to help reduce waste here.