Keep Albany Dougherty Beautiful’s annual Go Green event scheduled for Sept. 9

ALBANY — Got old papers, unwanted medications, dry computer cartdidges cluttering the living room or an old desktop behomoth taking up space in a closet? Those items and more can be discarded next week at the Albany Civic Center.

Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful, an organization dedicated to changing people’s behavior toward littering, is hosting its 19th annual Go Green event to help city and county residents properly dispose of any of these items they may have sitting around the house. In its 19 years, the event has placed 690 tons of electronics into the recycling arena, according to KADB.

The recycling event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

With the help of shredding trucks, people can bring their documents and have them shredded for free.

These documents will be shredded safely and securely, Jwana Washington, KADB’s executive director said.

“No one will be able to get a hold of your sensitive documents or items,” she said.

An e-cycling truck will be available for old electronics as well. Larger devices like televisions or computer monitors will have a $10 charge.

As far as electronics, people can bring anything they’ve been holding onto — anything they would see in the Walmart electronics aisle, Washington said.

“That television that got hit by lightning that you don’t use anymore, old cell phones or old batterie s, and you’ve just been storing them in the corner and… didn’t know what to do with them or how to dispose of them, this is the time to do that.”

KADB is also partnering with the Albany/Dougherty Drug Unit, to help people get rid of any unwanted, unused or outdated medications, she said. This will be done for free, anonymously and with no questions asked.

Operation Pill Drop is an effort to keep these medications out of the landfills and aquifers.

“When you flush your unwanted pills down the toilet, they go directly to our aquifer,” Washington said. “We all live on a watershed, and what we put in the water, it stays in the water.”

Last year’s Green Event saw 321 cars roll through to drop off items, with 7,471 pounds of electronics, 197 pounds of medication and 14,100 pounds of paper collected, she said. Volunteers usually see cars lined up down the street and around the corner.

“We hope that we will exceed those numbers this year,” Washington said.

Already, people are calling and asking about the event, she said. Those with questions about the event or interest in volunteering can call KADB’s office number (229) 302-3098.

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