EPA website header graphic

A quick search and poll of twitter gave me some ideas on what could be done. First I found the eCycling website setup by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It’s got information about what to do with your e-waste and the different options that are available for you to take advantage.

This site offers:

• Basic Information about reducing and recycling electronics
• Where You Live provides information about regional and State eCycling programs
• Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronics? lists organizations and retailers with donation and recycling programs
• Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics
• Regulations/Standards for handling electronic equipment
• Frequent Questions and answers about electronic waste
• Resources publications and links that offer additional information on the management of electronics

A friend on twitter also let me know that you can take some old equipment to Best Buy and they will help you recycle it. Some items require you to pay a small fee, but Best Buy will give you a gift card for the equivalent fee for you to spend at a later time.

Pretty cool. So, what are you getting rid of today or this weekend? What ideas do you have for using old equipment for something useful?

Post from: EveryJoe

Old Computers on Earth Day

E-Waste (Electronic Waste) is becoming a huge problem throughout the world. We as American produce the most E-waste as we dispose of and attempt to recycle our outdated and obsolete electronics. Much of this out-dated product has toxic materials such as heavy metals like lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Hexavalent chromium.

Image: Newscom

I wrote a short article on E-Waste yesterday at Blisstree Men’s Health. Here is a short excerpt and if you have a moment, head on over to the original article and give it a read. There is also a video about America sending it’s E-Waste to third world countries for recycling and the conditions that the people that are recycling the material in are not exactly healthy.

While the production of electronic goods isn’t really slowing any, the electronics of the past and obsolete is taking it’s toll on the environment. According to a report by Electronicstakeback.com , the world’s population disposes of 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste each year and only about 11.4% of that get’srecycled.

That is just a phenomenal amount of waste considering that most of it is old hardware that contains lead, mercury and cadmium. Television sets, computer monitors, circuit boards, batteries, you name it. Sadly a lot of E-waste get’s sent overseas to countries such as China , India , Malaysia, Kenya and various other African countries where it either sits or poor communities work to dismantle it for recycling and disposal, not knowing the health risks that they are taking by handling a lot of this waste.

Think about it next time you go to throw away a TV, motherboard or hard drive…

Post from: EveryJoe

E-Waste, An Ever Growing Problem