Recycling your Electronics

This month’s issue of National Geographic has a spectacular article on high-tech trash and its devastating effect on the global environment and developing nations (High-Tech Trash: Will your discarded TV or computer end up in a ditch in Ghana? by Chris Carroll, Jan. 2008). Unfortunately, the U.S. is to blame for much of the world’s tech waste and its low rate of recycling.

Fortunately, all of us can do our part to keep our own unwanted electronics out of landfills and reassembled into new gadgets. The EPA hosts and informative site on eCycling that lists the hazardous components of TVs, PCs, and cell phones, as well as how you can donate or recycle your unwanted electronics. Call2Recycle is a movement hosted by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation to recycle used batteries and cell phones. The National Cristina Foundation donates unwanted computers to schools, charities, and public agencies, while also supplementing the equipment with technology training. Last but certainly not least, many libraries serve as donation centers for used cell phones, which are then recycled or refurbished: Wireless…The New Recyclable.