On Saturday, May 12, the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council held its annual spring recycling drive in Steamboat Springs. For the second consecutive year, our organization was selected to provide certified recycling of the unwanted electronics dropped off by area residents and businesses.

Blue Star Recyclers is a Colorado-based nonprofit social enterprise with a mission of recycling electronics to create jobs for people with autism and other disAbilities, a population with over 80 percent unemployment in Colorado.

All total your community brought in 34,234 pounds of electronic waste for certified recycling. Here's what that produced.

• 47,718 pounds of greenhouse gas emission reductions

• 37 days of employment for our workforce of people with disAbilities

✓ $2,721 in taxpayer savings from benefit reductions through employment

That's a significant amount of impact produced in only a few hours by one community.

Our sincere thanks to the sponsors and volunteers, and special thanks to Cameron Hawkins and her outstanding team at Yampa Valley Sustainability Council for organizing this outstanding event. See you in the fall.

Bill Morris, CEO

Blue Star Recyclers