Recycling Electronics Is Getting Easier

In my March 30, 2008 blog post, I discussed the issues and methods of recycling electronics.

As more retail stores, equipment manufacturers, and local governments open or expand their recycling programs, it is getting easier for consumers to recycle computers, televisions, media players and cell phones.

In the June 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, they answer the question "Why recycle?" by explaining,

"The cathode-ray tube in old-style TVs and computer monitors contains 4 to 8 pounds of lead, a neurotoxin. Cell phones and other electronic gadgets can contain mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and brominated flame retardants. Those toxins can leach from landfills into groundwater."

Read the full article.

We had an old 19" standard-definition, non-HD-ready CRT television that we no longer needed and could not find a friend or neighbor who wanted it. The TV worked fine, but even selling it on Craigslist was more problem than it was worth. We decided to recycle it. Houston has recycling centers that accept glass, electronics, motor oil, and paints. We went to the closest center and dropped off the television with the workers. We explained it was a functional television, so in case they or someone else wanted it, they were welcome to have it.

If you have an old cell phone, check with your local women's shelters or other charities to see if they accept cell phones for their clients. (Some cell phone or office supply stores collect cell phones for this purpose.)

Even scratched or defective CDs can have a new life as the face of a clock, or as reflective hangers to scare birds away from your fruit trees.

If you are recycling a computer that still has its hard drive, be sure to not only delete everything on the computer, but also to reformat the drive. If you can remove and (safely) damage or magnetize the drive, you can prevent anyone from finding sensitive information you may have had on the computer when you were using it.

Recycling keeps dangerous chemicals out of our soil, our water, and our bodies.

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.