Durham Public Schools CTE Comes to Visit

One of our closest and longest running partnerships is with Durham Public Schools. The majority of our interns come via Career and Technical Education teachers working at Durham high schools. The CTE program prepares middle and high school students for college and careers through work-based learning. While in high school, students progress through the 3-2-1 Work-based Learning model. Students gain Awareness of career opportunities, have Exposure to professions through work-site visits, and gain Experience by participating in internships.

Last Tuesday, a group of CTE teachers visited our shop to learn more about our refurbishment process, meet our team, and get more information about our programs. These teachers are also partners in our computer donation efforts. CTE teachers help us make donations by identifying students in need and filling out a Google Form with student information. Thank you to all the teachers who came out last week! We appreciate all that you do for your students.

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Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.

Partnering with Partners for Youth Opportunity

This week, we’re highlighting one of our long-time collaborators, Partners for Youth Opportunity. This organization works with employers in Durham to create opportunities for young people to network and gain experience in the workplace. We have partnered with PYO for worksite tours, career days, and internships. One of our current part-time employees came to us through PYO last year!

Most recently, we donated 15 laptops to Partners for Youth Opportunity for their after school program. A big thank you is due to Carlton and Bryar for arranging for this donation and providing the photo for this week’s blog post! We’re looking forward to hearing back soon about how students have used their laptops in the program.

If you know a nonprofit that works in youth education in Durham, please let them know about our TEKI Program and have them get in touch.

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 Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.

Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Partnership

Last Thursday, Oleg and our Director of Community Engagement (Jennifer Ethridge) upgraded the computer lab at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. The mission of the Club is to enable all young people, especially those who need help most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

Students now have 13 desktops running Linux Mint that they can use for homework, games, and other activities. Some students in the program stopped by the lab an expressed excitement over the updated computers.

 Triangle Ecycling also donated a laptop for the Student of the Month, a program that we will continue over the next year. Thank you to Executive Director, Joshua Dorsette, pictured above with our Head Tech/Teacher, Oleg Nepliouev, for helping make this donation possible!

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Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.

What to do with All Those Confidential Statements and Business Records?

Our clients from schools to local governments to businesses, medical, law and accounting offices have always trusted us to destroy their data. We figured, why not offer the additional service of shredding the old fashioned kind of confidential media - paper.

So now, for pickups and drop offs we will take an unlimited amount of your documents at $1/lb. for secure shredding. It is done on our site to NAID AA Secure Standards. And be rid of those stacks of old bank and brokerage statements, tax records and other confidential documents.

Happy to help!

Our Head Tech/Teacher

You may know Oleg if you’ve been a long-time customer or partner of Triangle Ecycling. You might also recognize him if you’ve ever attended one of our computer literacy courses at Durham County Libraries. Oleg was one of the first full time employees at Triangle Ecycling. Starting in 2012, Oleg was going on pickups with our founder, Larry Herst, back when the business was located in former Elkins Chrysler auto shop. At the time, Oleg was the only employee and did just about everything at the shop.

“I did all of the testing, refurbishment, photos, and wrote the eBay listings for every product we sold,” Oleg says.

 Since then, Triangle Ecycling has moved and Oleg’s job has changed, although he’s still takes on a variety of tasks at our shop. Working as part of our team, Oleg helps to coordinate sales, keeps our processing pipeline moving, and trains new staff on our procedures. He also has a significant role in our community outreach efforts. Besides teaching classes at Durham libraries, Oleg also brings our workshop to staff and clients of local nonprofits.

 One of Oleg’s most important roles is that of head teacher for our internship program. Each semester, Triangle Ecycling brings in a few high school juniors and seniors from local schools to work in our shop and learn how to be computer techs. Oleg thinks of this as one of the most unique aspects of our business, and something that is both challenging and rewarding.

 “Interns are right on the cusp of adulthood and they all need different kinds of guidance,” he says. “It is extremely rewarding to help an intern to grow into a fully fledged staff member with a solid skill set.”

 It is clear that Oleg enjoys working at Triangle Ecycling, and he admits he loves every part of the job. From training interns, to setting up labs for nonprofits, there’s a lot of rewarding work to do at TE. But Oleg did point to a particular aspect that stands out.

 “My favorite part of my job is going out into my community and educating people about the dangers of social media and teaching them how to protect themselves from the evil tendrils of Facebook.”

 You can meet Oleg and the rest of our staff anytime you come into Triangle Ecycling for a computer. You can also take one of his Computer Literacy classes at Durham Public Libraries. Check their events page for upcoming classes!

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 Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.

Who Has Internet?

This week, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance released a new info-graphic about broadband access in America. Part of their findings regarding regional access may be surprising to some. People often imagine rural areas that lack the infrastructure for broadband to be most in need of efforts to increase access. Instead, this NDIA report shows that 15 million of the 20 million households without internet access are in “urbanized” census areas.

Places like Durham are the most affected by lack of internet access. The biggest barrier to broadband access for American households is affordability rather than infrastructure.

 The NDIA and other digital inclusion organizations know that the solution to the access gap  has three parts: Affordable broadband, affordable devices, and digital literacy training. At Triangle Ecycling, our efforts are focused on the last two parts of this solution. Since January 2019 we have donated 90 computers to young people in Durham through our nonprofit partners. Additionally, we sell discounted computers in our shop and online. To help people in Durham better use their devices and stay safe on the internet, we teach free Computer Literacy Workshops through the libraries and local nonprofits.

 When we pick up equipment from our corporate clients, they can feel confident that their equipment is going to help close the access gap right here in Durham. The computers that we receive from these companies end up in the hands of foster children, local high school students, and nonprofit staff in our community. To learn more about digital inclusion and efforts to expand access, visit the NDIA website at digitalinclusion.org.

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 Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally, we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We are your Durham electronic recycling/ecycling option. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.

Supporting The Durham County Extension Program

Laptops Heading Off to Durham 4-H Coding Camp

Last week, Triangle Ecycling had the opportunity to forge an exciting new partnership! We were contacted by Donna Rewalt, the Durham County Extension Director, and were asked to donate computers to 4-H campers. We prepared ten laptops with Windows 10 for the campers to take home at the end of the Coding 101 camp this Monday.

We also sat down with Donna and Darnell Parker, the County Extension Agent for Agriculture, to learn more about what they do in our community. The County Extension is doing some excellent work through their informational workshops on health and nutrition, parenting, and more. We also discussed how the Triangle Ecycling workshop series could benefit the County Extension audience.

Thank you to Donna Rewalt and Darnell Parker for making this donation happen. All of us at Triangle Ecycling are looking forward to continuing to work with the Durham County Extension. Stay tuned to learn more about our work with all of our partners here in Durham!

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Triangle Ecycling is a nonprofit with the mission of making Durham (our home town) smarter, cleaner and more equitable. We do this by supporting education. We have a semester long computer tech internship for Durham Public High School juniors and seniors that teaches tech, teamwork and the soft skills of working in a real business that gives back to its community. We’ve had more than 100 interns come through the program. We also donate 10% of our profits to the DPS Foundation to support innovation and equity in the public schools. Finally we teach digital literacy and Internet safety through our nonprofit partners. We make Durham and our environment cleaner by recycling over 70 tons of e-waste a year – keeping much of it out of the landfill. We are your Durham electronic recycling/ecycling option. We enhance equity by donating computers, tech support and education to any Durham nonprofit that educates kids and offer discount computers to help bridge the digital divide at our local Triangle VIP Store.