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HOW TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT BY RECYCLING ELECTRONICS!

 

 

Help the environment by recycling all of those used electronics. Here you'll catch why it's so imperative to recycle everything with an electric plug. And you'll jump for joy when you gather our five quick and easy steps.

Help the environment by recycling electronics - the numbers

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates in their '2009 Electronic Waste Management in the United States' report that:

1. 438 million new electronic products were sold;
2. 5 million short tons of electronic products were in storage;
3. 2.37 million short tons of electronic products were ready for end-of-life management; and
4. 25 percent of these tons were collected for recycling.

This means that 75% of all end-of-life electronics were stored or disposed of in landfills.

The stories below should help you understand why the numbers are so large.

Help the environment by recycling electronics - an inside story

Growing up I had an older friend named Sam. Sam later became an engineer for Intel and moved up to the bay area.

He'd often come back down to our old neighborhood for holidays and birthdays. When he did come back to visit his old friends and family, he'd get into conversations about what it was like working for Intel.

Many times he'd describe the absolute perfection in detail that went into the manufacturing of every microchip created. He'd describe the particles per square inch of dust allowed to be in the air in the laboratories he worked in.

He described amazing ventilation systems that kept the airtight rooms dust free to the level of one molecule of dust per million square inches or some wild, precise, low number like that.

It was always truly fascinating to hear what he'd been working on and how. He once described that the work he does in the manufacture of microchips is for product that wouldn't be released for well over five to ten years in the future.

"Five to ten years in the future... I thought."

"Why don't they just release the best now and stick with that until they develop something dramatically and entirely better in ten years?"

He explained that Intel had warehouses of chips to be sold far into the future. He went on about how every six months or so they'd roll out a new speed, or better series of chips that they'd already created and manufactured many years prior.

All of this for a never ending profit stream from feeding the hungry masses desire for the newest, fastest and latest.

Help the environment by recycling electronics - planned obsolescence

I was quite taken aback, although 15 years ago, I didn't realize the danger to our environment this planned obsolescence would surely cause.

Because of greed and debt in our world, manufacturers are determined to sell us the lowest quality devices possible in order for such devices to break down within a certain predetermined time frame.

After forming our habit of using a product, our mind constructs a belief that we need said product. Thus ensuring the manufacturers that we'll buy a new one once theirs breaks.

It seems quite ironic for these same corporations to claim they want to help the environment.

Once you become hooked on using a certain machine or device, you'll likely NEED to keep using one when your current one becomes obsolete - which will certainly happen. Therefore, you may buy a competitor's product, nonetheless you'll still buy a new one, regardless.

And of course, that knew device has planned obsolescence designed into it, which means in a few years you'll have to dispose of that device and buy yet another new one.

Case in point, my Cuisinart coffee maker. I received it about four years ago as a Christmas gift from a dear friend. I used it every day! Just a couple weeks ago the water pump stopped working, thereby rendering the machine useless.

It just stopped, as if by a timed precision failure (four year use). It didn't hesitate, or continue to work as a naturally occurring malfunction would.

You know there's always a warning. First your car overheats, long before the head gasket blows, and then the block cracks! Or your brakes screech, way before they completely glaze over the discs and fail to stop your car.

Nope, not with my coffee maker. It just stopped and that was it, done. And, as the manufacturers of these devices know, I'm not going without an easy way to brew coffee every morning. I even tried it..., but forget it, the machine is just too convenient.

And, my mind tells me "I need a coffee maker."

I am running a test on my new Mr Coffee machine. I bought a less expensive brand, however the new machine has the same identical features as my old Cuisinart. We'll see how long it lasts?

Help the environment by recycling electronics - the results

The point to all this is that we're being sold electronics and other devices which will certainly break and need to be disposed of - in very short amounts of time. If we keep this up, our Earth may become depleted of the natural resources required for the manufacturing of new products!

And then what will we do?

There are two basic solutions:

1. We start making products to last - this of course seems tremendously challenging in our current world economic system.
2. We start recycling all electronics - this is very easy to do and you can start today.

Help the environment by recycling electronics - 5 easy steps

Start going green at home and in the office, just do the following:

1. Gather it - Please gather as much electronic waste as possible so as to make our exhaust emissions or yours worth it during our pick-up or your drop-off.
2. Wipe it - When we recycle appliances we process them through machines that sort the different components into their raw materials. Dirt and other debris can end up contaminating the commodity materials. So, please dust it off for us.
3. Box or bag it - If it's not a lot of trouble, please place the small electronic waste in a box. This makes it quick and easy for our drivers to remove your e waste. We'll even recycle the box.
4. Place it - Don't be too concerned, just put it in a location that is safe, one that youngsters won't climb into.
5. Schedule it or Drop it Off - Schedule your electronic disposal/recycling pick-up and we'll get the end-of-life electronics, out of your life! Or, swing by and drop it off on your lunch break.

Schedule your free electronics recycling pick-up today!

All Electronics Recycling is currently picking up most everything with an electric cord in your neighborhood (commercial or residential) for reuse or recycling.

So, if you want to help the environment by recycling electronics, I suggest filling out the form up on the right or calling us now at (800) 924-0884 to be scheduled in our pick-up routes.

P.S. Also, please ask your friends, family, and colleagues to leave you their end-of-life electronics so we may pick it all up on the same trip as well. We can always come back next month, although that may increase our carbon footprint, so please act now.

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