Bernabi student, Fortress youth
celebrate Earth Day with recycling project

Some students at Bernabi Elementary School in Spencerport and members of Fortress Youth have been recycling empty printer cartridges and used cell phones in an effort to keep these items out of landfills. As a reward for their efforts the participants in the Funding Factory Recycling Program are earning equipment for the school.

The cartridges and cell phones collected by Bernabi students and Fortress Youth are sent to Funding Factory where the cartridges are inspected and then sold to reputable recycling companies to be remanufactured. These cartridges are later sold to secondary markets, including retailers and office-supply stores.

Cell phones that enter the Funding Factory warehouse are either donated to nonprofit markets such as women's shelters, sold to refurbishers who sell them back into the domestic market, or sold to foreign markets.

Their efforts help the environment by collecting empty laser and inkjet cartridges and used cell phones from the community and sending the waste products to Funding Factory. They are putting a dent in the more than 30 million cartridges 30 million cell phones that are thrown away each year, according to adults who work with the youth.

Community and business supporters can drop off cartridges and cell phones at the following locations: Gates Wesleyan Church at 2060 Long Pond Road, Rochester, New York 14606 and Spencerport Bernabi Elementary School Office, 69 Lyell Avenue, Spencerport.

To learn more about supporting the local effort call Al Meyers at 585-426-6437. For project information visit www.FundingFactory.com or call toll-free 888-883-8237