Unlikely as it sounds, Rene Mansho's field of dreams is a junkyard of old computers, discarded cell phones, worn tires, empty printer cartridges, used cooking oil and a long list of other items that usually end up in a landfill.

Since 2004, Mansho has overseen a recycling road show that regularly draws lines of people from all over O'ahu who are eager to dump their junk in an eco-friendly way. Who knew recycling could be so simple? Give them an outlet and they will come.

"Everything we collect is being diverted from the landfill and recycled," Mansho said. "People want to recycle. They want to keep things out of the waste stream but they don't have a place to do it."

One Saturday a month, Mansho brings together 15 to 20 recycling companies for a community collection drive she calls Aloha 'Aina Earth Day.

They waive fees they normally charge to recycle some items, donate money to the schools or nonprofit groups involved and even send trucks into nearby neighborhoods to pick up items door-to-door, Mansho said.

The program is so popular it's booked through 2010.

The events are an opportunity to recycle just about anything — the list includes old hearing aids, batteries, packing foam and plastic hangars. But offering to take electronic equipment, or e-waste, has proven to be extremely popular because the public is frustrated by having so few options, Mansho said.

"You have to pay to get rid of your electronics," she said. "Computers are very expensive to get rid of. You have to pay by the pound. People would just dump them on the side of the road and residents are putting computers in the landfill."

Aloha 'Aina Earth Day limits people dropping off items to one computer per car, but organizers have discovered that some families are coming in two cars to get around the restriction. At some community drives, people filled as many as three truck loads with monitors, hard drives, keyboards, scanners and printers.

The recycling drives have been a fresh start for Mansho, a former Honolulu City Council member. In 2002 she pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft for misusing campaign money and city staff, and spent a year in prison.

Afterward, she started working as the community relations director for Hawai'i Metal Recycling — which is now Schnitzer Steel Hawai'i Corp. — and became the co-chair of the General Contractors Association of Hawai'i's Recycling Industry Committee.

Mansho threw her energies into community recycling at a time when illegal roadside dumping seemed rampant. She held her first community drive in April 2004 in Wai'anae with two recycling companies collecting scrap metal, tires, cardboard and bottles and cans.

"Then we grew and every time we bumped into another recycler, they joined us," she said. "Everybody wanted us to do this every month. They wanted us to do it every week because people didn't have an alternative."

EDUCATING PUBLIC

Intrade Corp., a Kalihi recycling company that collects empty printer cartridges, cell phones and many kinds of small hand-held electronics, got involved with Aloha 'Aina Earth Day in 2006 because it was the right thing to do, said Mike Owens, company president.

"Almost anything is recyclable," Owens said. "People can see that intellectually but when it comes down to doing it, they have a problem. They don't know where to take it or who to call. These events have really raised awareness."

But the events can be costly for recycling companies, which for some requires paying workers overtime to send them to the Saturday events, Owens said.

"The costs to us of participating in this as recyclers actually outweigh what we get in those events," he said. "We are doing it because we really are concerned about the environment. We want the word out."

Nik Nikolaidis, chief executive officer for T&N Computer Recycling Services in Waipahu, thought his company's participation would be a good way to educate the public about recycling as well as a bit about the toxic substances in monitors and TVs, such as lead, mercury and cadmium. And he also figured it would let the public know what his company offers.

"That was our strategy, in the beginning, to let people know that we exist," Nikolaidis said. "It was our way of giving back to the public. We are out there to help solve this problem."

BIG RESPONSE

Public response was overwhelming.

"When we started, it was three truck loads and that kind of scared us," Nikolaidis said. "It let us know the volumes were huge. Eventually it piped down."

He consistently fills two trucks with about 7,000 pounds of e-waste.

Such public demand has been typical, Mansho said.

Last July, when she invited Nike Town to set up a tent so it could explain the concept of recycling athletic footwear, stunned organizers wound up with a pile of 700 shoes.

"You meet these happy faces," Mansho said. "They are so happy we are there. They ask us to come back next month and we say, 'Sorry, we can only come to your neighborhood once a year.' But they follow us around."