Things To Do This Weekend

If you go to the recycling fundraiser for San Rafael High School this weekend, you will finally be able to get rid of your Elvis karaoke machine that has been collecting cobwebs in the garage and didn’t help you sing like the King anyway.

Universal Waste Management, Inc. of Oakland is partnering with the Marin school for the UnWaste Recycling event, and takes just about any item you may want to unload–with a few exceptions.

“Because UnWaste has such a diverse and all-encompassing recycling program, we see a lot of weird stuff coming through,” said Jan Rice, collection event specialist for Universal Waste.  “We got a karaoke machine that looked like Elvis.  We got a old monitor from the 1960's that looked like it came straight from a NASA Apollo program.”

Universal Waste will not take paints, oils, batteries, fluorescent lights or hazardous items.

Otherwise, the list of acceptable stuff is long and varied.  It includes textiles and clothing–coats, jeans, suits, shoes, purses, bedding, towels, pillows–as well as hardcover and paperback books.  It also includes small household appliances from blenders and toasters to vacuum cleaners and hair dryers.

The company also takes e-waste–electronic products that are near the end of their useful life or are obsolete due to advancements in technology.  Such items include computers, monitors, televisions, copy and fax machines, telephones, cameras, ink cartridges, stereos and much more.

“Unfortunately, electronic discards are one of the fastest growing segments of our nation’s waste stream,” according to the CalRecycle web site.

Click here to see a complete list of the items Universal Waste will take whether they are working or not, reusable or not.  And the service is free.

“It is a community service, first and foremost, that is environmentally friendly with the goal to recycle as much waste as we can,” Rice said.  “The last time we were with San Rafael High, we generally saw an average of $5 per car.  But payment is not required.”

Cash donations, however, are how the high school will raise money for its cause, which is the Class of 2012 Safe and Sober Grad Night.  In addition, Universal Waste will reimburse the school if it collects and turns in cathode ray tubes or CRTs from old televisions and monitors, which Rice said contain lead and are illegal to dump.

In 2010, the UnWaste Recycling event raised nearly $2,000 for San Rafael High – about $1,500 in donations and about  $400 in CRT reimbursement.

Last year, 32,212 pounds of waste materials were collected at the event.

“We are hoping that this year we will have an even bigger success and more poundage given the new items we have added to acceptable list,” Rice said.

New items include mattresses, box springs, large appliances, Styrofoam and wine corks.  There is a fee for these items, for example $40 for a full or queen mattress, $5 for a microwave oven, $40 for a stove, $5 per bag of Styrofoam.

What does Universal Waste, a state-authorized recycler of e-waste, do with it all?

“Everything we collect is recycled or refined for beneficial re-use,” Rice said. “We have specialists go through all the materials that were deemed useful to check for functionality and will refurbish devices in effort to get the largest amount possible of the materials we collect reused.”

Items that are no longer useful get separated into plastics, metals, textiles, glass, bulk paper, etc.

“We work with several recycling partners all within California, most within the Bay area. Each specializes in recycling or refining a particular waste component,” Rice said.  “We never send anything to landfills and we do not ship any electronics overseas.  All of the materials UnWaste manages are processed using eco-friendly methods.”

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday participants can drive to the San Rafael High School parking lot on Third Street, across from the Montecito Plaza Shopping Center, to drop off all of their unwanted goods.

Students will greet participants and request cash donations.  Universal Waste employees will direct traffic and unload cars.

“It takes 60 seconds or less and people can drive on their way,” Rice said.  “It is fast, environmentally-friendly and we will be out there rain or shine.”

Art of the Americas

The 27th annual Marin Show: Art of the Americas this weekend will showcase indigenous arts from across North, Central and South America.

The show brings together dealers, collectors and artists from around the world.  The exhibits include pottery, sculpture, jewelry, beadwork, baskets, paintings, photography and more.  There will be lectures on California Indian baskets and Navajo blankets of the Classic period.

The show will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Marin Center Exhibit Hall.

Tickets are $15 and are valid both days.  Tickets are available at the event.  For information visit  marinshow.com.

Blues with Tommy Castro

Rhythm and blues singer and guitarist Tommy Castro and his band will play Friday at , 100 Yacht Club Drive.  Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8:30 p.m.  Tickets are $20 for general admission standing.  To buy tickets, click here or call 389-5072.