Kennesaw Merchants Hold Recycling Event

Sunday, Kennesaw merchants of The Windsor plaza on Cobb Parkway co-sponsored the city's first Save the Earth Feed the People free recycling event. The event lasted from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. and allowed community members to recycle paper, steel, tin, copper, lead, brass and aluminum items.

The event was a collaborative effort between (AFG), , , and .

Participants were able to deliver items through a convenient drive-through service with volunteers on hand to unload the recyclables. The merchants also offered community members a chance to stay and have lunch, serving chips and hot dogs grilled by Aqua Tots owner John Hankins.

Sue Picardi, who co-owns and manages AFG along with her husband John, came up with the idea.

“I thought it would be a great idea if we could all band together and host something to collectively give back to the community,” said Picardi. “Everyone got on board and liked the idea.”

“We approached this event much like our ideas of investment strategy. We serve folks with large or small needs and treat everyone equal,” she said.

Event organizers also accepted electronics ranging from phones to computers and everything in-between. Computers for Youth was on hand for the recycling of computers and related equipment, while handled anything document-related.

“We bring learning home for kids that could not otherwise afford computer technology,” said Eddie Matano, Technology Manager with Computers for Youth. “We take computers and recycle them by wiping off the hard drive and installing our own learning software.”

Matano said Computers for Youth gets computers from events like this one, as well as through private and corporate recycling partnerships. The organization works with schools to identify which children are in most need, and also provides training workshops to educate the kids who benefit from the computers.

Chuck Burkhardt, President of Shred 2 Go, Inc, attended to support the event as well. He said the company serves the Atlanta area and operates locally from its warehouse in Kennesaw on Moon Station.

“The things we take get recycled into household items you use everyday, like paper products and toilet paper, lots of toilet paper,” said Burkhardt.

“Keep recycling. Prices on paper towels, toilet paper and paper products are getting ready to go up even more this summer. The market is really volatile right now, and recycling is a great way to make a difference,” he added.

The sponsors also accepted free-will donations for their efforts, benefiting .

R.J. and Asha Patel, owners of Prestigious Cleaning and The Windsor, welcomed  people to the event. They said they felt blessed to be able to help provide this service to the community.

“We are calling this the first annual event in the hopes this will be an ongoing effort that grows every year, " said Picardi. "We believe it’s important to set this example for our community.”