Sevier County – Each year, according to statistics provided from Recycling Appeal USA, "almost eight cartridges per second are thrown away in the United States alone" and each inkjet, toner, laser, and printer cartridges adds "approximately 3 pounds of waste to our landfills" in the United States.

Oil, a very costly resource as we all know, is used in each of the cartridges produced. An inkjet cartridge is produced with 2.5 ounces of oil and 3.5 quarts of oil are used in each laser cartridge. The cartridges also contain plastics, steel, aluminum and rubber that all add up quickly in the landfills. These materials do not biodegrade and only accumulate in our soil and water systems. A single cartridge alone can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. More printer cartridge facts can be found at http://www.recyclingappealusa.com/whyrecycle/printer_fact.asp.

To help curb the destruction and pollution of our natural resources, the Sevier County Public Library System is launching a discard drop-off point so that these cartridges can be reused and recycled. So, the next time your laser, inkjet or toner cartridge is depleted, please drop the used cartridge off at the Sevier County Main Library at 321 Court Avenue in downtown Sevierville; the Seymour Branch Library at 317 W. Macon Lane in Seymour; or, the Kodak Branch Library at 319 West Dumplin Valley Road in Kodak.

The cartridges will be recycled and any proceeds from the recycling process will go directly to the SCPLS Library Foundation to help fund the new Sevier County Main Library. For more information about Going Green with the Sevier County Public Library System, please call Delores Vess at (865) 428-7653 or email at dvess@sevierlibrary.org.

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