ZooTampa at Lowry Park is offering the Tampa Bay community a “greening” opportunity to kick off the New Year! The Zoo will host an Electronics Recycling Drive on Monday, January 18, accepting various items. The event will take place in the parking lot from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cell phones and other handheld electronic devices contain a material called coltan, which is often destructively mined in Central Africa, home to many endangered species like okapis, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Recycling old cell phones and other handheld electronic devices allows for coltan to be reused, decreasing the need for mining – an action that ultimately helps to save wildlife! Additionally, the initiative helps keep electronic items out of local landfills and protects wildlife. The electronics will be recycled by a certified recycler, Urban E Recycling, which is locally owned and operated.
Acceptable recyclable items include laptops, computers, cell phones, iPods or other MP3 players, iPads or other tablets, Wi-Fi hot spots, handheld gaming devices, GPS units, speakers, electronic accessories such as chargers, cables, rechargeable batteries, blue tooth headsets, etc.
Unfortunately, large home appliances, household batteries, CRT monitors, televisions, and light bulbs will not be accepted. A shredder is available to destroy any data or private information that might be on the devices. Additionally, participants can clear any personal data from the device by removing the SIM card or manually removing the information.
The zoo’s address: 1001 W. Sligh Ave, Tampa, FL 33604
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