Jackson Free Press

A computer recycling program will continue for another year at Jackson State University with a $30,000 grant.

The JSU Computer Recycling Program received a $30,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to continue efforts to train students in computer technology and repair while educating the community on proper computer disposal. The program, founded in 2001, has received awards from Keep Mississippi Beautiful and the Environmental Protection Agency. It has "renovated" and repaired computers and donated more than 2,000 to low-income families, churches, summer programs, daycares and the Jackson Zoo.

"Because of lead in computers, (throwing computers away in the trash) is bad for our health. It leaks to the ground and affects our water," said Dr. Pao-Chiang Yuan, who directs the program.

The MDEQ website estimates that Americans dispose of 12 million to 14 million computers each year, and this number is expected to increase.

Anyone can donate computers to the recycling program. Workers with the program can pick up computers or you can donate computers on campus behind the old Industrial Arts Building.

Staff and student assistants who work for the program are paid through the grant, and the grant is also used to buy software.