The U.S. generated 2.9 million tons of electronic waste in 2006, and nearly 90 percent was trashed in landfills.But the Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council will give students the chance to drop off their obsolete personal IT equipment from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday on Tower Drive to reduce their carbon footprints.”It’s important to eliminate as much electronic waste as you can,” said Shannon Fish, CACRC director of resources. “Bring us anything you have sitting in closets or under your bed. It’s not serving any purpose, but we can do something good with it.”CACRC is a nonprofit organization that promotes waste reduction and the use of recycled goods, according to its Web site.Electronic waste — or E-waste — is any type of electronic device no longer needed by someone, Fish said. But CACRC is trying to keep electronics out of the garbage cans.Electronics contain materials including lead, mercury and cadmium that can contaminate water and soil and harm human and animal health.”A ton of bad stuff is inside these electronics, and we’re trying to find another life for it,” Fish said.Students can recycle gadgets like computer hardware, keyboards, mice, speakers, telephones, cell phones, DVDs, MP3 players, XBoxes, Playstations, GPS Devices and digital cameras.Students cannot recycle televisions, stereos, appliances or copiers.When a computer is brought into CACRC’s warehouse, it’s assessed by the warehouse crew and sorted. If items are old and aren’t able to be reused, they are sent to de-manufacturing, where everything is pulled apart and sorted to be recycled based on the components. If an electronic can be reused, it’s sent to testing, where the crew removes the hardrive’s data, and the system is cleaned, tested and reworked.If the electronics are still working, they can be given to someone in need, or the working parts can be reinstalled into other devices.”It’s going to benefit people when it’s donated to us,” Fish said. “It’s also a tax-deductible donation. We give you a receipt, and you can write off the value of what you donate to us on your taxes.”In 2007, the CACRC refurbished and recycled more than 1,000 tons of used electronics — enough energy savings to power 3,350 US households a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.–Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]