DeKALB | Reuse-a-palooza, a cell phone, battery and ink cartridge recycling drive, will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

Hosted by the NIU Green Paws Environmental Alliance (the Green PEAs), Reuse-a-palooza will feature a line-up of 12 acts. On the bill is DOSE, a Grateful Dead tribute band, spoken word artist Emanuel Vinson, Illuminati Congo, Black Matt, Crowley And The Bear, the Delmore Schwartz, Dave Anians, Scott Wesley Band, Jack Mack, CPW Rovers and two late night DJ sets.

Eric Sterling, junior anthropology major and Green PEAs member, said the decision to book such a diverse show was a conscious one.

“We thought the only way to be able to connect with a lot of different people was to book a very eclectic night of music that will draw on a broad range of sensibilities and emotions and the way they look at the world,” he said.

The Green PEAs are a new group currently trying to get recognized by the NIU Student Association. They are determined to take an active role on campus issues and not remain apathetic.

“We didn’t want to be this bake sale group or this clique that sits around with their buddies and has 10 people in there and they raise a few bucks, but nothing really happening on campus,” he said. “We thought the only way to get things moving and shaking is to get more of a broad spectrum of people involved,”

The recycling drive is aimed at raising awareness for RAISE Hope for Congo, a group determined to heighten the profile of the conflict occurring in the African country.

There’s a civil war going on in Congo right now over minerals that are used in cell phones and electronics, Sterling said. The Green PEAs hope to follow in the footsteps of Stanford University and have NIU know where the minerals in its electronics on campus are coming from.

“It’s one of the worst wars in the world and the atrocities and rape and things that are going on in are being fueled by these minerals coming out of the Congo,” Sterling said. “We want to have Northern jump on board of following this initiative that Stanford has adopted to become conflict mineral free.”

The Green PEAs and STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition are sponsoring a petition for NIU to go conflict mineral free which can be signed at Reuse-a-palooza and the Holmes Student Center today and tomorrow.

Tickets are $3 if you bring in a cell phone, ink cartridge or batteries to recycle. $5 for everyone else.