Earth Day 2017: TRC Urges Consumers To Help Rid the Environment of Mercury Thermostats

Earth Day was established, in 1970, to create appreciation and awareness of issues impacting the health of our planet. Celebrated annually on April 22nd, Individuals, businesses, schools and governments around the globe commemorate what has been achieved and strategize what remains to be done to protect the Earth.

Today, Earth Day has evolved into Earth Week and Earth Month. And each year, the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) is proud to be a part of it.

This month, TRC and its members are getting the word out about the importance and ease of recycling mercury-containing thermostats with a new social media campaign. The ad helps brand TRC as an environmental stewardship organization and encourages everyone to act as if every day is Earth Day. The hashtag #TrcKeepEmComing is also displayed to help promote mercury thermostat recycling through social media channels.

Additionally, TRC has just unveiled its new small pail offering to make collecting and storing mercury thermostats more convenient prior to shipping them to TRC for processing. The one-gallon container is ideal for contractors who come in contact with the discontinued devices and retail centers with limited space. To order one, fill out the online form here.

Started in 1998, TRC began as a voluntary takeback program spearheaded by a few manufacturers who branded and sold mercury thermostats in the United States. While production of these devices ceased in 2007, their mission continues.

Now, the non-profit stewardship program is financially supported by 31 manufacturers, and has collected over 2.1 million mercury-containing thermostats, keeping more than 10 tons of mercury out of the ecosystem.

As a result of nearly two decades of education and outreach, TRC’s collection numbers have been diminishing since 2015 indicating that its efforts have been successful.

For more information on mercury thermostat collections during Earth Month, join TRC’s pollution prevention and sustainability expert, Tom Murray on Wednesday, April 19th at 1:00pm.  Click here to register for this free webinar, hosted by the Product Stewardship Institute.