Green Thinking Blog

I bought a new cell phone today, and it made me think about what I’ll do with my old phone. Luckily, my phone provider sends a mail-in recycling envelope with any new phone, so I’m all set there. But, what do we do with all our junk electronic equipment?

The first thing you should do is figure out if it’s worth giving it away or selling at a discount to someone else on Freecycle, Ebay, or Craigslist. The National Cristina Foundation accepts computer equipment as donations for local non-profit organizations and schools. If you’re giving away a computer, don’t forget to reformat your hard drive or destroy it before giving it to someone you don’t know. If you’ve got an old cell phone, try Cell for Cash and see if you can get some money for it. If they won’t buy it, you can at least get a free shipping label to mail it in for recycling.

If your junk equipment is not worth donating or selling and you just need to get rid of it, I found some great tips to help you out. We have to avoid throwing electronics in the trash because they can contain toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, and flame retardants which, if crushed or burned, can become toxic to our environment. In many states it is actually against the law to throw electronic equipment in the trash. So take care and look into these options:

• EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling - This page offers a ton of information on where to recycle old equipment including local programs, manufacturers and retailers, and government-supported programs.
• Basel Action Network (BAN) - This site lists companies that have signed the Electronic Recycler’s Pledge of True Stewardship which is a promise not to dump electronic equipment overseas. The recyclers have also agreed to allow BAN to check up on their recycling practices and vendors. MSNBC said Best Buy, Motorola, Staples, Sony, Dell, and Waste Management all say their collected equipment is never shipped overseas.
• Check with your city to see if they have a hazardous waste recycling day. Find out when it is and encourage your friends and family to take the trip with you.
• EcoGeek says TechForward is a great place to sell back your equipment at a pre-determined price.

These are only a few ideas, and I’m sure there are tons out there. Hit us up with a comment if you have an electronic recycling idea or experience to share.

Photo credit: Erkin Sahin

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 8:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.