Important Things You Should Know About The Upcoming Bi-Annual Recycling Event

EDITOR’S NOTE: This event was cancelled due to weather. There will be information up as soon as possible on a possible rescheduling date.

Earth Day is just around the corner, and coincidentally, so is the bi-annual Montrose recycling event organized by the Montrose District along with community sponsors like H-E-B, Tradition Bank, CompuCycle and the City of Houston. What does this mean for you? A safe haven to drop off sensitive business and personal items for refurbishing, shredding and recycling. However, there are a some important things to know before you show up with a trunkful of recyclables.

When: From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, April 25.

Where: In the parking lot of the Montrose Market H-E-B at 1701 W. Alabama.

Who: The entire community is welcome to drop off their items. Vendors are equipped to handle larger amounts that may come from business waste as well as the smaller items from regular households. However, the focus is on common items found in most businesses — see the section below to find out what will be accepted.

What: Security is the focus of this two-times-a-year event, accepting sensitive hard-copy documents for shredding as well as electronics, batteries and small appliances. Just a handful of accepted items include computers (laptops and desktops), monitors, servers, keyboards, speakers, cables, routers, printers, hard drives, data storage devices, projectors, cameras, televisions (only up to 27-inches), cell phones, CDs, DVDs, radios, VCRs, small kitchen appliances, blow dryers, curling irons and batteries. A full list is available here.

Why: Other than keeping items out of the landfill, partnering with CompuCycle for the recycling and refurbishment aspects means that sensitive items like hard drives and memory storage devices do not need to be wiped or cleared beforehand. The company has several certifications proving they are a responsible electronics recycler with a proven track record of keeping your confidential information secure until it is destroyed.

As far as document shredding, the Internal Revenue Service has very specific recommendations for how long to keep tax-related records that vary from periods of three to seven years.

Lifehacker also recommends the following guidelines for knowing when to destroy documents: Pay stubs and bank statements after a year; home purchase, sale or improvement records after at least six years (this is after selling the property — always hang onto them if you are still the homeowner); medical records and bills after one year; warranties and receipts for as long as you own the item. As for things like 401(k) statements, annual insurance documents and social security statements, just the most “recent version” is important to hang onto. Otherwise, toss the old ones into the shredder.

No matter what you decide to drop off, the highly vetted vendors at this spring’s recycling event will ensure your documents are destroyed securely and that your electronics don’t end up cluttering the landfill. As long as you can gather the items, trust they’ll be put to good use and rest easy knowing your sensitive information will be kept confidential.