Do you have a digital camera? Do you still use it, or does it sit quietly in a desk drawer, out of a job thanks to your iPhone? With the rate at which technology advances these days, chances are we all have old gadgets that are now obsolete or that we just don’t use anymore. Despite the amount of e-waste that keeps piling up, only 12.5 percent gets recycled, and the rest makes up around two percent of all landfill trash in the US.
So, before you throw old tech into the trash (which you should not do), check out the following tips for how to properly dispose of old electronics.
If it’s not broken, don’t dump it
First ask yourself: is this item still usable? If it is, consider giving it to someone who can still enjoy it, or perhaps you can donate it to a charity or sell it online on a website like Facebook and make a couple of extra bucks. If you would rather donate the item, many charities or electronics shops accept donations of electronics that still work.
Even broken, it’s useful somewhere
If the device is no longer usable, then it’s time to recycle that e-waste. Luckily, there are plenty of places that offer free electronic recycling. Your local Best Buy or Staples both have free electronic recycling programs at all of their US stores, accepting pretty much any technology from tablets to coffee machines, to gaming consoles.
Should you not have one of these in your area, many municipalities also offer occasional electronic recycling. It’s common for a town or city to hold recycling days for items that cannot be typically recycled curbside. Some places even allow for appliances to be mixed alongside bottles and cans! Take New York for example, here you can put small mostly metal or plastic appliances – such as toasters, toaster ovens, blenders, and mixers – in the recycling bins.
The recycling experts at TerraCycle offer some incredible options, with the private recycling company being able to recycle just about anything! From here, you can purchase an e-waste cardboard box and collect any electronics that need to be recycled. When the box is full, it can then be mailed to the company for recycling, easy as that!
