Recycling Electronics

National Public Radio's Morning Edition program recently had an article about recycling consumer electronics (MP3 players, DVD players, TVs, etc.). You can read and hear this article here. There are also links to other articles about recycling at the bottom of that page.

A general recycling article from Morning Edition can be found here.

It is not easy to recycle or properly dispose of broken or unneeded consumer electronics, especially in smaller urban or rural areas, but it is worth the time and effort, if you want to keep mercury, various metals, and non-decomposing plastics out of your water, land, and air.

Check with your local grocery store or office supply store. Some store chains are actively recycling used printer ink cartridges, cell phones, and plastic bags. Consider donating old cell phones to women's shelters or other community organizations.

Check with an electronics repair store to see if your player can be repaired for at or near the cost of buying a new one. Sometimes you can get the old one fixed and use it for a few more years, saving money and resources.

I see so much waste of reusable items, lack of recycling or proper disposal of consumer goods, overpackaging of consumer goods, and more and more "use and toss" cleaning products that I have come to call western culture, the "throwaway society."

When it's actually a matter of health, and not just a marketing scheme, I understand and can support single-use items. Even though media players have dropped so dramatically in price that it's actually cheaper to buy a new player than fix an old one, I still can't easily and willingly throw it away.

Cheap electronics can help close the "technology gap," which is good, but I'm saddened by the lack of quality in a desire for higher sales.

Organize Your Media for 2008!

Do you have a New Year’s resolution to organize your home or business? This is a great time to label, archive, and store your important photos, videos, audio recordings, digital presentations, and documents.

First, gather your items. Include printed photos, documents, music CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, video tapes, audio tapes, and file folders on your computer.

Sort your media. Separate them by media type, subject, date, or project.

Choose an organization and documentation system. You can use a written or typed list, spreadsheet, or database, depending upon the organizational complexity and quantity of your media. Whatever documentation style you choose, make it easy to update, as you add new items.

Delete or environmentally dispose of unneeded items. Fun ideas for old disks are suncatchers, bird repellents for fruit trees, clocks, or arranged in shadowboxes. If you have a large quantity of videotapes, contact a professional recycling company. They will securely delete the video recordings and recycle the tapes, keeping plastics and chemicals out of landfills.

Burn (Copy) your files onto CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, or external hard drive. Organize the files into folders, following your organizational system. Scan printed photos and documents and save them in the correct folders.

Label your media. Write directly on disks with a Sharpie marker, or print on printable disks. I recommend not using adhesive labels on CDs or DVDs, because the label could come off in the disk drive or player. Also, write on the media container, on the front and side that faces out from the shelf or box.

Rewind your tapes. Video and audio tapes must be stored completely rewound to prevent any slacking in the tape. Every year, go through your tapes and wind them forward (or back) completely, so they maintain their tension. Store your tapes standing up (on one of the short ends).

Store your media. A dry, cool, dark, dust free storage area is best for preserving your media.