Opportunity Village emphasizes storing, recycling items

Opportunity Village leads several initiatives to increase sustainability. The nonprofit repurposes used towels from hotels like the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Mandalay Bay and also disassembles computer hard drives to reuse the parts.

“The ‘rag reclamation’ program started with The Venetian a few years ago,” said Laura D’Amore, director of sales for the nonprofit. The hotel and casino used to sell old towels to textile companies until the nonprofit convinced them to hand over those same old towels and sheets to Opportunity Village instead,” D’Amore said.

The eco-friendly rag reclamation program has had the additional benefit of generating 24 jobs for people with intellectual disabilities, D’Amore said.

To retrieve metals and pieces from old hard drives, the nonprofit uses a “sledgehammer” to punch a hole through a device, preventing any personal data from being extracted from the used electronics. The parts are then disassembled and sorted down to the rubber bits from wire.

“None of that ends up in the landfill,” D’Amore said.

Opportunity Village also recycles 10,000 pounds of paper every day.

Why is being green so important?

It’s saving the Earth for future generations and it’s cost-effective because it’s sustainable. There are so many things that we can use and reuse. We know pollution is an issue, and we don’t need to be contributing to that anymore. We need to be making a difference. If we handle that here locally, then we don’t have to worry about how it’s affecting other countries.

How can going green improve productivity?

For us it does more than increase productivity, it employs people with disabilities. It’s absolutely a win-win. Going green helps our community and meets our mission.

What influenced your decision to pursue green practices?

We’ve been in the community for 60 years. If you’re going to be a member of this community then you need to be doing things that sustain our community.

How has being green reshaped your company’s perception?

We see what an impact it’s made for our supporters. In the community, we’re not landfilling. We’ve seen this impact it’s made for people with disabilities. Having gone this far and realizing what a positive influence it’s made, we’re branching out even more and looking into e-waste recycling. E-waste recycling refers to any form of electronic waste such as hard drives, phones, and appliances. Anything that comes in broken, we will store and recycle.

— Alexander Corey/Las Vegas Business Press