There's a man on the western edge of New Hampshire who would like to thank you.

He'd do so individually, but as you read this, he's no doubt in his basement, busy at work. You see, his West Lebanon home along the Connecticut River used to be full of the board games he created 10 years ago. But no more.

Many of you will remember William Mitchell. The retired university professor was ankle deep in "The Recycle Game," when you first met him in the pages of Waste News on Feb. 5. When our story hit the street, Mitchell had 1,000 board games collecting dust in that basement. He and his wife originally printed 3,000, paying $30,000 in hopes of educating school children.

But 10 years later, demand had dried up. So out went our story with his offer of free games. And, well, did someone say 'free'?

"We've been getting just an enormous response, and we're practically out of games now," he said by telephone late last month.

His best guess: He's got 50 left.

"Well, I really can't tell you for sure, but all I know is the [current] stack of letters that we've received asking for games is at least 6 inches high and growing. I'm down here in the basement now packaging up some more."

Some people want one game; others, a dozen. "We've received several letters asking for all the games," said Mitchell, 85 years old, and sounding like he has the energy to deliver each game in person.

Requests come in from all over the country. Florida, Minnesota, Texas, West Virginia. Let's not forget Canada. Some requests come with a check to cover shipping costs. Those that don't still receive a copy along with a hand-written note from Mitchell who politely asks for $5 per game to cover his expense.

"The Recycle Game" looks and plays like a traditional board game. Think Monopoly, but with squares dedicated to compost facilities and paper recycling instead of Boardwalk and Park Place. Mitchell outfitted the game with a learning guide, too, designed to educate players on proper waste management.

He admits that the surge in interest has sparked his desire to reprint the game.

"We've wondered about that. We haven't thought too seriously about it, but there is a lot of enthusiasm out there."

That enthusiasm has left Mitchell extremely grateful.

"It's really reassuring when we get these letters and they show all this interest in recycling. Some of them have some real good messages that they pass along. à It's just that we have a big challenge out there to handle our waste or throwaways much better than we have in the past."

Mitchell can't talk long. He's got work to do.

"Here's another one, from Berkeley, California. Says, 'I wonder if you have any left by now. They'd be great.' So we'll get something to them."

Ever the optimist, Mitchell wouldn't even have me call off the letter-writing campaign from Waste News readers requesting games.

"We're just going day to day now. Just about every day I'm down here in the basement wrapping them up."

Brennan Lafferty is managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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