Its very similar to the line I waited in for the Best Buy recycing event at the Richfield headquarters in June 2007.... And that one wasn't entirely free like this one is. Did you think it wouldn't have a huge line?????? Recycling COSTS these days!

Well I was going to go out there to drop off an old TV. But I guess I'll wait until Lakeville has the recycling day next spring and pay the $20 to drop it off. That line moves much faster!

You don't need to wait for these special recycling events to take place. If you are a Hennepin County resident, you can use two resident drop-off facilities... one in Bloomington and one in Brooklyn Park. They are open Tuesday - Saturday year round. Go to www.hennepin.us keyword search "drop off facilities". They will take five each of the same type of electronic per household (for example, 5 TV's, 5 monitors, 5 CPU's, 5 printers, etc.). Lines are much shorter - especially mid-week. If you live in another county, go to your county's web site for information on electronics recycling.

Here in Youngstown we have a all kinds of recycling. Curbside, special drop-offs for electronics, another for tires, another for paint and such, another for appliances.
I'm luckey enough to have some land and a Bobcat front-loader. I just heave it all in the gully out back and push dirt over it all. I sometimes feel almost guilty. But that feeling don't last for long.

totally different leagues. for something approaching ten years or so now, if you sell new Electro-Tschotkes, you have to take back old ETs for recycling with a grin and a "danke." the manufacturers enable the handling of the creepy, murderous old junk. most of the cost is front-loaded into the price of new ETs. and nothing on the market since 2005 has had lead inside it... unless there is absolutely no alternative, like some medical and military devices.

see, lead-free solder is very high in tin, and tin produces radiating metal needles, and these short out circuit boards and interior connector matrixes of integrated circuits. "Tin spikes" have become a leading cause of equipment failure.

at this point, the cure for "tin spikes" appears to be hand-wired vacuum tube equipment :-D

but you don't have to wait all afternoon to dispose of the shorted-out ETs, just take 'em to the back door of the joint you bought them from over there.

it is how we should be working things over here, especially considering there are half a billion old TV sets with high-lead glass CRTs that will be looking for someplace else to sit and rot in the next few years. the bad side of HDTV and plasma is that 6 to 12 pounds of lead is in a CRT picture tube on each old set.

that's almost enough lead to qualify the dangerous ultra-high-vacuum CRTs for children's toys. except if you crack the neck on a CRT with a little bitty hand holding a little bitty table spoon, the tube can pull the entire arm in and slice and dice it 100 different ways.

that's close enough to being a recallable hazard in our brave new society that I doubt anybody will be selling "baby's first CRT" any time soon.

Doesn't Minneapolis have vacant lots?

As an environmental state employee, I'm so happy to see this. Giddy, even! I feel bad for the long lines. I rarely go to the MOA but happened to do so for a Red Cross Volunteer appreciation event. I got there at 5:05pm and left at 6:45pm and the lines were L-O-O-O-O-O-N-G.

Thank you all for recycling. You've all made my day. And you have Friday and Saturday to do it too, if you think you've missed it!!!

As an environmental state employee, I'm so happy to see this. Giddy, even! I feel bad for the long lines. I rarely go to the MOA but happened to do so for a Red Cross Volunteer appreciation event. I got there at 5:05pm and left at 6:45pm and the lines were L-O-O-O-O-O-N-G.

Thank you all for recycling. You've all made my day. And you have Friday and Saturday to do it too, if you think you've missed it!!!

. . .there is occasional evidence on Lilydale Road that the High Bridge is used for recycling of monitors and televisions. Heads up!

Does Minneapolis have vacant lots? half the whole darn town should be a vacant a lot as far as I am concerned and as you drive through the north end you will see what I mean.

CRTs are banned from legal, lined landfills because of their toxicity. Illegal burial only serves to increase the leaching of toxic chemicals in the soil and groundwater. There are both short term and long term human and environmental health consequences from this type of behavior.When your water and land shows the effects of toxic dumping be sure to look in the mirror to find out who to blame.

I both love and hate the whole idea of recycling.
I hate the fact that someone, usually my town, is charging me additional fees to take away my garbage just because it is reusable. What a perfect scam!
I love the fact that someone is making piles of money because I and you are giving them free raw materials from which they will make some other product. What a perfect scam!
It's the American Way!
It just so happens that a (very financially successful) friend of mine whose family has been in the "recycling" business for three generations, is the one whose company sponsored that Mall of America recycling event.
You get rid of your unwanted goods. He gets the raw materials to become even more successful.
Is this a great country or what?
:)
!!

I had a couple box-fulls of electronics, computer parts, & one old satellite dish to recycle. When I got down there at about 1 pm on Thursday, I was stunned to see the line of cars backed up all the way to 494 when I drove down there. It looked like I was going to be in line for at least an hour, and that was even before I saw the lines of cars coming from other directions.

So I just parked my car in the IKEA lot, and walked my 2 boxes of electronics over. It took 2 trips, and the boxes were heavy, but I was out of there in less than 20 minutes.

Obviously you couldn't do that if you had larger stuff like TVs or computer monitors, but for people with smaller amounts of stuff, it's the way to go.

Great Job Minnesotans on recycling! So great that the MOA site has shut down operations and turning folks away. You'll have to utilize the other recyclers.

You don't need to be a Hennepin County resident to use that facility. I am in Scott County and was able to drop off a TV last summer. I believe they have an agreement with Hennepin County for cost allocation. I would recommend checking the website to verify they will accept non-resident dropoffs.

My 7 year old and I sat in the car for nearly an hour to drop off a old microwave and TV last night. What kept going through my mind was that we are saving the ground from pollution but with all our cars idling there for hours what kind of air pollution were we creating? I am a avid bicyclist and I wish I would have hauled the stuff on my bike trailer. Anyone know what brand jacket the MOA security cyclists wear? Looked like they were pretty warm in the cool, night air. I would like to check the jackets out.

All the gas burned from the cars in line probably outweighed the energy savings from the stuff that was recycled. Brilliant.