By Savita Kanungo

Coppell residents turned up in big numbers for the "Document Shredding and Electronic Recycling Event" organized by Anant Kanungo, a Life Scout with Troop 840, for his Eagle Project from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 12 at 260 N. Denton Tap Rd.

Over one hundred vehicles drove by the shredder and disposed of 2,000 pounds of documents (literally a ton), 286 computer monitors, and 1,500 pounds of CPUs and other electronics. Food and cash donations were also accepted for the North Texas Food Bank, and Coppell residents donated 60 pounds of canned food and $206 in cash at the event.

This event, which was the first of its kind in Coppell as an Eagle Project, was organized for Coppell residents by Anant Kanungo of Troop 840. Ray Clark, CFP, a longtime Coppell resident, donated the document shredder. A dedicated team of adult leaders and scouts from Troop 840, and scouts from Troop 807, were on site from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., unloading the documents and ensuring proper procedures of shredding.

Shredding is not only a safe and secure way to prevent identity theft and other misuse of our personal information — it is also a great way to contribute towards the protection of our environment. The paper gets directly recycled to produce eco-friendly paper, hence preventing the cutting of more trees. Shredded paper is also used for packaging instead of Styrofoam. Shredded paper can also be composted, which will break the paper naturally. Statistics say that a ton of recycled paper causes 74-percent less air pollution than the same amount of paper made from virgin wood pulp. Recycled paper also has 50-percent less water and consumes 64-percent less energy.

Consumer electronics are the fastest growing segment of the municipal solid waste stream in the U.S., accounting for 2.63 million tons of waste in 2005 (or 1.1 percent of the waste stream), which is an increase of 7.8 percent over 2004. Of this 2.63 million tons, 87.5 percent was disposed of rather than recycled. Toxic substances contained in electronic products can pose threats to human and environmental health after those products have been sent to landfills or burned in incinerators. For this reason, numerous products have been classified as hazardous waste. Recent life-cycle analyses show that recovering many of the materials contained in electronics, as opposed to extracting raw materials from the earth, makes environmental sense.

Anant picked this project to promote and participate in protection of the environment. The adult leaders of his troop provided all the moral support and encouragement a Life Scout would need to bring the project to its completion, including David Hymer, the Committee Chair with the project idea; Terry Smith, the encouraging force; and Tim Ritter, who was his Eagle Coach and stood by his side for each next step throughout his project.

Anant Kanungo is thankful to all of them and most of all the Coppell Community for turning up and participating in the event.