Inspector Gadget

The New York Times ran a great story on recycling electronic gadgets earlier this month.

Did you know that Americans discarded 2.25 million tons of computers, printers, cellphones and other electronics in 2007? About 82 percent ended up in landfills.


The article also stated that according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average American household has 24 electronic devices. Twenty four!

Ok, I'm going to count mine up:

TV (2)
DVR (1)
DVD (2)
Wii (1)
Computer (3)
Nintendo DS (2)
Digital camera (3)
Clock radio (3)
GPS device (1)
Cellphone (2)
Microwave (1)
Blender (1)
Toaster (1)
Coffee maker (1)
Coffee grinder (1)
Rice Cooker (1)
Juicer (1)

Total: 26

But the real question is--what do we do with our "stuff" when it breaks or we are no longer using it?

For instance, I only use one of my three cameras. One is broken and the other is a digital video camera that is in great shape, but old. (Ditto on 2 of our 3 TVs.) And we have a DVD that is in perfectly good working order that we don't use. The kids are ready to trade in their practically new DSes for the new, sparkly DSi.

Rather than selling or giving away our usable items, they are just rotting in our house/garage. Ditto on the broken items. I guess this is better than having them in the landfill, but it still seems wasteful.

What to do?

According to the article, most household electronics can be recycled because they have metal and other materials that are of value to recyclers. But the longer you hold on to your device, the less of a chance it has of being reused.

So when you start your Spring Cleaning, think about how to recycle or properly dispose of your electronics. Here are some options:

Donate working items to a non-profit, freecycle.com them, or sell them on Craigslist.com

Take them to the Shelby County Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility--They will accept all computers (PCs and laptops), monitors, ink cartridges, printers (small desktop & combo/fax), scanners, servers, audio/visual equipment, telephones/cell phones, typewriters, calculators, circuit boards, and misc. electrical equipment. (They cannot accept microwaves or TVs.)

Other places, like the U of M, also host e-waste drop off days from time to time.

Several big chain stores, including Best Buy, allow you to drop off most small electronics for recycling. Manufacturers are starting to offer recycling, too. Apple, Dell, Samsung, Sony and others now offer free recycling either through mail-in programs or at drop-off sites specified on their Web sites.

There is a national recycling program for rechargeable batteries; Sears, Staples, Target, RadioShack, Best Buy, the Home Depot and Lowe’s are participants.

Find more information here:

MyGreenElectronics.org, which is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association and allows searches by ZIP code

Earth911.com, a public-private partnership that lets you search by type of electronic and address.