Citizens stopped by Mathis Auditorium in Valdosta Saturday morning to dispose of a number of electronic items.

"I brought a printer and it's an old printer that I've had sitting in my closet for several years," said Annette Labahm, a Hahira resident.

"I brought a couple old computers that I had sitting around the house and monitors," said Timothy Wherry, a Valdosta resident.

The City of Valdosta partnered with Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful and Atlanta Recycling Solutions to put on this environmentally friendly event to promote city preservation.

"It's a big push on going green and just trying to teach people to recycle more and to be more responsible with their waste," said Aaron Strickland, executive director of Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful.

City officials say electronic waste is a growing problem due to the short lifespan of modern electronics.

These devices contain components that are toxic and should be properly discarded.

"Lead is the most important," said David Loxsom, owner of a recycling company. "That lead, the solder, everything on the board gets broken down, it leaches into the soil and it leaches into the water and then it gets into our drinking water."

Whether residents realize it or not, they're not just cleaning out closets, they're also caring for both mother nature and their health.

Since the inception of these recycling events in 2006, city officials say nearly 100 tons of electronics have been collected and recycled.