Recycling Old Electronics

The average American household spends $1,200 on new electronics each year.  Most Americans upgrade their cell phone every 14-18 months.  Americans will purchase 34.5 million new televisions this year.

The junk drawer, the guest room closet, and the attic are only temporary solutions for the ever-growing collection of old or broken gadgets.  Neither is the landfill an acceptable option.  About 1.9 million tons of e-waste, some of which leaches toxic substances into our soil and water, were put in a landfill in 2007. (planetgreen.discovery.com)  Old electronics, the ones being replaced, need a final resting place.

What are your options?  Well, we’ve looked at some options that will allow you to responsibly dispose of your old gadgets.   There are a few companies that will price out how much they’ll give you, pay for shipping, remove your personal information, and then retool, resell, and/or recycle your old device.  Try Gazelle.com, FlipSwap through Amazon.com, TechForward.com, or MyBoneYard.com.  If those options won’t work for you, try Earth911.com/electronics, MyGreenElectronics.org, or epa.gov/waste/conserve/materials/ecycling, all of which will locate the nearest electronics recycling location based on your location.  However many donation sites may not remove your private data, so check into their policies before turning in your electronics.

As you clean out your collection of not-so-ancient technology, make environmentally wise purchasing decisions for the new gadgets.  Find out some strategies here.

Electric has the man-stamp of approval: Orange County Choppers, known for their rough-rider custom motorcycles, has built the “first custom electric American chopper.” Commissioned by Siemens, a global electrical technology company, the bike combines Orange County’s usual over-the-top flair with a less-usual electric motor.

Orange County's Smart Chopper

You’ll still stop traffic—you just won’t drown out the “oohs” and “aahs.”

This year, the Smart Chopper will tour the country promoting sustainability and green technology. All it needs is a few sockets along the way: Siemens claims that an 110-volt socket charges the bike in five hours, while a higher-voltage station charges it in as little as one hour. And with a top speed of 100mph, the bike might gain the approval of other riders on the road.

This electric bike showpiece is just one, albeit flashy, tribute of Siemens’ dedication to efficient power. The corporation has also pledged as whole to reduce its CO2, water and waste footprint by 20% in the next five years. Though cool-looking, the Smart Chopper seems like proof to me that “fun” technologies like motorcycles don’t have to die out in the new era of sustainability, but evolve instead. Bring on the electric snowmobile.