Urban E Recycling is an electronic recycling company. We take computers and other electronics and responsibly recycle them. We shred hard drives and other data devices for security. We try to make it convenient and secure for everyone to recycle electronics.
Baby Caught In A Desktop Scanner
It was a hot, sticky day, at Urban E Recycling.
It was a hot, sticky day, at Urban E Recycling, just like the last 98 days of our Florida summer. The roaring electric fan was the only relief from the heat, as usual. Yet today was not an ordinary day. Today was a special day. It was a day that someone got what they wanted and was in dire need.
One of our employees, we will call him Charles, mostly because that’s his name, found something special. Charles is a positive, smiley person ninety-five percent of the time. This day he was extra happy, and he had good reason to be. This day Charles had been working on a large load of e-waste that came in the evening before. He came in to front office where he can often find Gina, the office manager, Greg, my partner, and Nick, the operations manager and myself; Sometimes, all at the same time, and sometimes not.
I was in my own office at the time. Hearing voices in the front office, I heard an excitement in the air. I knew something was going on. When I came out and asked what was up, I found out Charles found a beautiful treasure in a scanning machine. We disassemble all kinds of electronics and recycling them down to the raw materials, in most cases. This particular load was from a popular thrift store and charity organization that we pick up regularly and properly dispose of their e-waste.
(A little side note here; if it’s not good enough for you, it’s probably not good enough to donate. We pick up loads of electronics from thrift stores that they cannot use or sell.)
Charles found an original birth certificate with a raised seal of certification for a two month old baby jammed in a all-in-one scanner/copier. He carefully retrieved it. He was excited to catch the precious document before it was destroyed.
Greg took it upon himself to look up the parents of the baby. He found them after a little research on Google and Facebook. The phone number was a little more challenging, but he got it. He called and left a message about what Charles found.In the morning, the mother called and, of course, was so thankful. They had no idea where baby’s birth certificate had gone, but both mom and dad has been searching high and low since birth of the child.
The next morning the parents showed up at our warehouse with donuts. Everyone was happy with the exchange; baby birth certificates for an assortment of fresh donuts.