ANDERSON, SC - A steady stream of Anderson County residents visited the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center parking lot from 9 am to 2 pm on February 23 to shred their old documents and papers. Anderson County’s first Shred Day resulted in 30,000+ lbs. of shredded material that would otherwise have been taken to the landfill or burned.

“I knew there was a need for this service,” said Anderson County Council Chair Michael Thompson. “But I never expected this large of a turnout. Residents were so pleased that the County was making this service available. We heard comments such as,
‘I’m glad to see the County doing a good thins.’
‘I hope this will be the first of many.’
‘I am finally getting rid of stacks of old documents that have been cluttering my home, Thanks goodness the County did this.’
We could not have pulled this off without the sponsorship of Shred Away. They donated their time, employees and equipment to make this day a tremendous success. Their partnership with the County allowed us to do this without spending any tax dollars. Because of the success, we are working with Shred Away to plan additional days. We hope to find environmentally concerned companies to partner with the County to make this an annual event.”

As part of continuing efforts to promote air quality initiatives, Anderson County Council Chairman Michael Thompson invited County residents to Shredding Day on February 23, from 9 to 2 pm in the parking lot of the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center near the baseball fields. Co-sponsored by Anderson County, Shred Away, and the Outdoor Burning Taskforce, this event was another of Anderson County’s continuing efforts to move toward compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates since the Early Action Compact was signed with the EPA in 2005.

“We are glad that residents took advantage of this opportunity to help protect our County’s air quality,” said Anderson County Administrator Joey R. Preston. “This service met the needs of our residents, while simultaneously helping the County extend the life of our landfills and keep our air clean. We are grateful to Shred Away for partnering with us and making this service available at no expense to taxpayers.”

After initiating the Outdoor Burning Taskforce in September 2006, Council Chairman Thompson sponsored Anderson County Resolution R2007-003 which recognized January 2007 as Outdoor Burning Hazard Prevention Education Month in Anderson County and ignited the Learn to Burn program late last year. Learn to Burn featured billboards with the phone number to call for information about burning. This latest initiative, Shred Day, is another avenue to tackle the issue of improving and protecting Anderson County’s air quality and protecting our landfill from unnecessary usage.

Additionally, the County continues an annual vent-less gas can exchange program. Other air quality campaigns are in development and will be online soon. For more information about how you can be a part of efforts to improve air quality, contact Burriss Nelson at 260-4231. If you or your company would be willing to help sponsor an event, please contact Angela Stringer at 934-6451.