Wednesday, October 13, 2010

E-Waste Solutions



As recycling expands, so do environmental waste streams.  And hopefully, "awareness" also expands.  This video from eCollective/ECS Refining, a new E-Waste recycling company in California is very helpful in this department.  

E-Waste...for those not "in the know" that "e" stands for "electronics."  In this age where the newest gizmo on the market makes us want to trash our older, now "not so cool" cell phone, computer, iPod, DS, PS3-2-or-1, DVD player, video player, TRS-80, whatever....we need to know what we need to do with this waste.  The trash can & landfill aren't the best options.  Especially when you consider the wasted resources that get thrown away (then need to be re-mined), and the landfill gets bigger, taller, more toxic. Or worse yet, the rubbish gets shipped to an undeveloped country where they can serve as OUR landfill. 

eCollective in California has a system in place that could work as a model for other areas to pattern from!  They provide an online database of places to drop off your e-waste.  Their ultimate plan--have an easy drop off within 10 miles of wherever you live! If they make it easy for you, how can you not take advantage of it?!  Move from 14% eWaste recycling closer to 100%.  Makes sense--good sense!

A quick Internet trip to the eCollective site will give you a list of the gadgets and gizmos they will accept for recycling. It will also give you these details:
"It is estimated that the world generates over 40 million tons of e-waste every year. That’s almost 12 pounds for every man, woman and child on the planet, every year!
Our need for the newest, coolest electronics has left a wake of waste, the fastest growing category of solid waste in the world. Most of our unwanted and obsolete electronics get stockpiled in our homes, offices, garages. What’s worse is that 80% of what isn’t in storage is getting shipped to developing nations and only the small portion of what is left over is getting recycled properly.  That’s why ECS Refining created ecollective, an organization of convenient drop-off locations for consumers and small businesses to recycle their unwanted and obsolete electronics."                               ~ Quoted from http://www.myecollective.com/Home/About

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