Under the overhang at The Sign Company at the corner of Third Ave. and Lincoln St. in downtown, something wonderful happened this past Earth Day. During a three hour recycling event provided by Hillsboro Downtown Partnership, one ton or about 2,000 lbs. of electronic waste was collected to be responsibly managed. Thanks to Computer Drive Connection, Inc. of Cornelius, electronics brought in by 20 participating downtown businesses will be refurbished for continued use or safely dismantled to capture recyclable materials and prevent toxic components from polluting the environment.

Owners Robert and Ross Quivey of The Sign Company generously sponsored this event by donating their space and providing event flyers. Robert said he was happy to help enable this service and support the local business community in this way. As well, he is glad to have the space back in the shop as his business had been storing large old electronic equipment for many years.

Community volunteers were on hand to help HDP staff greet and assist participants as they off loaded old computer monitors, cords, printers, lamps, etc. Local Master Recyclers were set up to receive questions and share resources about more sustainable business practices. Even the Hillsboro Food Co-op was there to share about the community owned grocery store being developed for Hillsboro and surrounding areas. All in all, it was a great display of Earth appreciation in our downtown community.

For the future, there is hope that HDP can offer more Earth friendly services open to more of our community as the pandemic eases and larger gatherings can occur safely. Many thanks to all participants and those businesses and volunteers that made this service happen.