E-Cycling: The Green Parent's Guide to Disposing of Electronic Gadgets
According to Earth 911, Americans tossed 1.5 billion tons of e-waste in 2006, including 44 million computers and televisions. Worldwide, 88 billion tons of e-waste were trashed in 2006.
Each one of these electronic gadgets is chock full of toxic chemicals like mercury and lead that create an environmental mess when they leach into the soil and groundwater. CRT-based computer monitors and televisions (the kinds that have tubes) contain on average 4-8 pounds of lead. Flat panel models contain less lead but more mercury. (Earth 911 site can give details about the nasty stuff that can be found in your TVs, cell phones and computers.) Industry experts estimate even though e-waste currently accounts for only 1 to 4% of municipal waste, it may be responsible for as much as 70% of the heavy metals in landfills, including 40% of all lead.
Landfilling electronics also wastes the otherwise useful materials such as glass, copper, aluminum, plastic and other components that could be extracted and reused. Finally, of the e-waste that is recycled (an admittedly small percentage of the lot) roughly 50-80% is exported to countries such as China and Mexico where it is dismantled without regard to human or environmental safety.
So if you have an old gadget that you want to get rid of, it is extremely important to make sure it is disposed of properly. Here’s how to green your e-waste:
Find It A New Home: Keep your old electronic devices out of the landfill by finding them a new home. Ask around among friends and family, Freecycle, or donate the item.
Send It Back:
Contact the product’s manufacturer to find out if they have a policy for taking back their old gadgets. Some companies, such as Dell, will take back not only their own products but their competitor’s as well.
Recycle It Right: Check out the EPA’s Plug-In to Recycling site for a list of companies that sponsor e-waste take back events and to find an e-cycling event in your community. If you can’t find one nearby, check out the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition’s list of Responsible Recyclers in your area.
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Good info. We just did a major clean out in our son’s room and have lots of old electronics to dispose of… I’ll be using some of these ideas. Thanks!
wow, this is a really great blog! and i love the header!
FreeCycle Rocks!!!
A Little Blog Hopping Going On…
AMAM “A Man Among Mommies”
Great list. I think there is a big need for this sort if information. I wrote a couple of articles about recycling batteries and they were among the most read on my site.
I recently noticed that Motorola had included a pre-paid plastic bag in the box one of our cell phones came in. I stuck in 2 of our old phones and mailed them back to them to recycle. Projects like that and “The Big Green Box” can reach a lot of people!
-Will
LCD monitors are the de factor standard these days because they do not consume too much electricity;`”
msot computer monitors these days are already using LCD technology and some are LED-LCD *~’
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