Recycle Your Old TV's, Computers and Cell Phones
By: Jake | March 31, 2008 | Category: General
My parents' attic is a mausoleum for obsolete computers, cell phones and Nintendo systems. While my brother and I have been known to resurrect the first Nintendo system over the holidays, the other broken and obsolete electronics sit and collect dust.
It's better this electronic waste or e-waste is in the attic rather than in the landfill, since many old electronics contain environmental pollutants, but if you are like my parents, you'd like your space back (my old bedroom has become their other attic). Luckily there are ways you can electronically recycle or e-cycle.
This month the U.S. Postal Service started a pilot program where you can get envelopes to mail smaller pieces of e-waste to a recycling facility free of charge. These envelopes can be found at 1,500 post offices in 10 areas across the country, and if successful, the USPS will expand the program nationally this fall. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency has a goal to collect and recycle 1 million pounds of e-waste in the Great Lakes Region before Earth Day.
If you don't live near any of these post offices or in the Great Lakes region, the EPA's eCycling Webpage can tell you how to dispose of your e-waste properly. There are local programs and some manufacturers and retailers who will take back your old electronic products.
So as you start your spring cleaning think about how you can recycle some of those old computers, teevees and video game systems. My parents' house might not be as fun without the old Nintendo there, but at least I'll be able to see the walls in my old bedroom again.
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