Green Star of Interior Alaska

Green Star of Interior Alaska is a local nonprofit serving the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Our programs are designed to encourage reuse of materials, reduce unnecessary waste, and increase recycling efforts in the Fairbanks area. We provide electronics recycling for businesses and households, as well as event recycling for special events large and small. We also focus on outreach and education to the community with programs like our Fairbanks Recycling Guide, presentations at schools, businesses, and organizations, and our new recycling curriculum, to be released for local elementary schools in the fall of 2015.
Green Star consists of a small staff of one full-time Executive Director and several part-time staff, a dedicated board of directors, and an amazing group of volunteers, without whom none of our programs would be possible! We invite you to learn more about our organization and join us as a volunteer or member, or partner with us in many other ways to help make our community a greener and more sustainable place.

Our Mission
Green Star is a local non-profit that encourages and enables our community to reduce waste and increase recycling.
Core Purpose
Reduce Local Waste
Core Values
Environmental Stewardship tinystar Local tinystar Educate and Inspire
At Home & At Work tinystar Collaboration & Partnership tinystar Innovation
Long Term Goal (2020)
A vibrant culture of recycling – and the physical infrastructure to support it – exists in the Fairbanks North Star Borough

Nondiscrimination Statement:
Green Star of Interior Alaska actively recruits, engages and serves members of our community regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability. Green Star does not discriminate in the provision of service or support in its policies or actions.
Green Star‘s Board of Directors will periodically compare their own composition to the demographics of their region using census data in order to aspire towards reflecting the diversity of the local community.
In keeping with Green Star’s values regarding nondiscrimination and with applicable federal law, explicit statements that require the organization to embrace the broadest possible definition of inclusion and nondiscrimination shall be included in its bylaws, operating policies and procedures, and other relevant policy documents.
Green Star will reach out to and welcome the community at large through our recruitment, marketing, public education, and awareness activities. Green Star will strive to support recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive board of directors and staff.

Electronics Recycling

We will accept almost any electronic device that takes batteries or plugs in. We also accept batteries, cell phones, printer ink cartridges, and CDs/DVDs for recycling. Bring us your electronics! For large loads on pallets, please deliver on Fridays only and call ahead to let us know at (907) 452-4152.

Reusable Electronics

Green Star separates functioning, newer-model computers, vintage or collectible items, and other electronics in order to refurbish them, as needed, and sell them as a fundraiser for the organization. Green Star only does this after obtaining explicit permission from the donor, and all information is wiped from computer hard drives and smart phones before preparing them for resale.
Locally, items are available for sale at Computerwerks or at Green Star’s monthly Electronics Recycling Depot collections and other events. Re-useable or refurbished items can also be purchased on Craigslist, Amazon and eBay. Loose boards, broken or damaged smart phones, tablets, and laptops with hard drives removed may be sold for parts on eBay or through the e-Stewards Marketplace.
We may also donate your electronics to the Fairbanks Children’s Museum for their take apart station where kids have the opportunity to take items apart and learn how things work.

Wires and Metals

Electric wires and non-ferrous metals (aluminum heat sinks, random copper tubing, etc.) will be transported and sold to C & R Pipe and Steel, a local metal recycler, as a fundraiser for Green Star.

Electronics for Recycling

All other electronics are sorted, packaged, and prepared for shipment to our electronics recycler, Total Reclaim, Inc (TRI). The prepared electronics are then loaded onto a trailer donated by another program partner – Air Land Transport – and shipped to the TRI facility in Anchorage. From there, TRI ships the electronics to their final destination – the main TRI recycling plant in Seattle, Washington. Once they reach Seattle, the items are broken down into their component materials and prepared for reuse on the commodities markets. The recycling process separates the electronics into their component parts – such as leaded glass, precious metals, non-precious metals, and plastics – and makes these materials available to manufacturers. TRI researches all of their downstream vendors to ensure they are environmentally responsible.In early 2016, Green Star executive director Becca Brado took a tour of the Total Reclaim recycling facility in Seattle Washington, here are a few photos from the tour.

Ink & Toner Cartridges

Ink and toner cartridges are donated to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s Bridge Program. Bridge ships cartridges to Dazz Technologies, who has a zero landfill policy. Dazz re-sells cartridges to refilling companies, scraps them for parts or sends them back to the Original Equipment Manufacturers. Bridge also ships cartridges to PCR, a broker in Kent, WA. PCR cleans/sorts the cartridges and sells them to Clover Technologies Group, which is R2 certified.

Outdated cell phones

Outdated cell phones will be listed through the e-Stewards Marketplace or sold to GRC Wireless, which has a socially responsible, zero landfill environmental policy. Additionally, no wireless e-waste is refined in developing countries.

Program Basics

Green Star has been providing the Fairbanks community with special event recycling services since 2006. Initially, this program focused primarily on our partnership with the Tanana Valley State Fair Association to run a recycling program for the annual fair. In 2012, Green Star began expanding this program to provide recycling services for other large and small community events.
Over the past several years, Green Star has provided various levels of recycling services and support for the following events:

• Equinox Marathon
• Go Winter Expo
• Home Show
• Ice Alaska
• Midnight Sun Festival
• Tanana Valley State Fair
• Tour de Cure Bike Ride
• Golden Wheel Summer Spectacular

What is E-Waste and E-Recycling?

E-waste is a term that means unwanted electronic materials such as obsolete computers and cell phones. E-Recycling is an abbreviation for electronics recycling.
At our Electronics Recycling Depot we accept most items that plug in or run on a battery, including computer, monitors, printers, scanners, copy machines, TVs, VCR/DVD players, stereos, microwaves, and other small kitchen appliances. We also collect household batteries, printer ink cartridges, CDs, DVDs, and floppy discs.
A few things we cannot accept include: vacuum cleaners, smoke alarms, fluorescent light bulbs, exit signs, and VHS/cassette tapes.

Why can’t I just put my E-Waste in the trash?
The problem is not simply the sheer mass of these discarded devices. Electronic products contain toxic materials, and improper disposal may lead to water and air pollution. “A Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor can contains between four and eight pounds of lead alone. Big screen tube TVs contain even more than that. Flat panel TVs and monitors contain less lead, but many use mercury lamps.” 3 Other toxic substances found in electronic devices include cadmium, copper, lithium, brominated flame-retardants, and phosphorus. “About 70% of the heavy metals (mercury and cadmium) in US landfills come from electronic waste. Consumer electronics make up 40% of the lead in landfills.” 4 Fairbanks has a modern, lined landfill that is used for regular waste. The leachate, or water that extracts chemicals from the soil, generated in the landfill is collected, tested, and if it passes disposal requirements, it is then pumped to the local waste water plant for disposal.5 Your groundwater is protected, but e-waste can be better disposed of by recycling it through our Electronics Recycling program.
Information security may also be an issue. From the time electronics are placed in dumpsters at transfer sites they are out of your hands. Industrious “dumpster divers” may obtain and repurpose your electronics before they are taken to the landfill. Any data you may have had on your electronic devices may then be accessed by strangers. We offer hard drive destruction at our e-Depot which renders hard drives practically unusable.
Throwing away our old electronics also means the loss of valuable minerals and electronic components that could be mined for reuse, such as gold, copper, metal, and plastic. “One metric ton (t) of electronic scrap from personal computers (PC’s) contains more gold than that recovered from 17 t of gold ore.” 6 Rather than simply throwing away these valuable resources, it makes sense to recycle the devices and reuse as many of these materials possible.
In short, recycling our old electronics reduces our demand for raw materials and energy, reduces the burden on landfills, and reduces the amount of hazardous materials entering our environment.

Is there a fee to recycle my electronics?
Thanks to a generous grant from the Fairbanks North Star Borough as advised by the FNSB Recycling Commission, electronics recycling has been free to borough residents – businesses and households – since 2012. A small fee will be charged for electronics received from outside the Borough.
Anyone used to dropping off other types of recyclables for free – or even getting paid for some metals such as copper or aluminum – may be shocked to learn that they need to pay to have some electronics recycled. Electronics are complex items made of many different materials mixed together. Responsibly recycling these items is labor-intensive and requires sophisticated equipment in order to break them down into their component raw materials.
Paying for your electronics to go to a responsible company such as Total Reclaim Inc. means you are supporting the advanced technology, highly trained American workers, and considerable effort required to properly reclaim valuable materials and appropriately dispose of toxic materials.
As a nonprofit organization, GSIA is able to recruit volunteers and obtain donations from local businesses as well as a generous grant from the FNSB Recycling Commission. This allows us to offset the costs of transportation and additional overhead required to support this program – thereby reducing the costs to our customers for this recycling service.

What are the hidden dangers of e-waste?
Caution must be taken to select electronics recyclers who can certify that their practices ensure worker safety and the prevention of toxic releases to the environment. It is estimated that 70-80% of the e-waste brought in for recycling is actually exported to developing countries.7 In these places, labor costs are lower and environmental regulations may be lax or not enforced, often resulting in major pollution and health problems in these communities. E-waste that is shipped overseas may be improperly burned, soaked in acid baths, dumped into rivers, or piled into mountains for scrap recovery. These practices risk the release of toxic elements into the surrounding air, water, and land – thereby risking significant negative impact to the environment and health of workers and residents alike.8 Green Star of Interior Alaska selected Total Reclaim, Inc. (TRI) as our electronics recycler, in order to assure that all e-waste we collect is processed and recycled according to safe and responsible procedures. TRI researches all of their downstream vendors to ensure they are environmentally responsible; the company holds an ISO:14001 certification for its facilities. Visit the Basel Action Network website for more information about certified e-recyclers.

Food Waste Recycling

Make recycling your food waste easy by purchasing a composting bin from the  Alaska Feed Company. A portion of the sale goes directly to Green Star.

Did you know food waste is one of the largest components of our household waste?
According to a 2011 study1 of Seattle residences with access to curbside recycling, food scraps accounted for roughly one third of household waste. The combination of residential and commercial waste is commonly referred to as municipal waste of which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)2, food waste accounts for 15% of our country’s municipal waste stream. Did you know that food waste is a resource that can easily be recycled, composted, or repurposed? Continue reading to discover new ways to reduce food waste.

What is the environmental impact of food waste?
Excess food waste contributes to overconsumption of fresh water and fossil fuel resources used in the growing, processing, transportation, and sale of the food we eat. The use of fossil fuels, along with methane and carbon dioxide emissions, created by decomposing food and animal waste, may have a lasting impact on global climate change. Researchers estimate that 40% of the food available in the United States (US) is wasted and this waste accounts for more than 25% of the fresh water we use and 4% of our petroleum oil consumption.

What is the value of composting?
Compost is commonly referred to as “black gold” in the agriculture community. Farmers and gardeners value compost because it enhances the soil’s ability to grow healthy plants due to the nutrients it adds to the soil. Soil that is regularly mixed with compost becomes wonderfully dark and crumbly and often requires much less fertilizer compared to soil that has not yet benefited from regular helpings of compost.