e-waste

Another Way to Recycle Electronics: Radio Shack

jplatt — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0400

Great news -- yet another retailer is jumping into the "we'll recycle your old electronics for you" bandwagon.

This time it's RadioShack, one of the most ubiquitous electronics chains in the country. Through The Shack's new trade-in program, you can bring products or accessories to their stores or mail them in, and you'll get a gift card with a small dollar value in return.

The program accepts MP3 players, cell phones, cameras, gaming consoles, and even laptops. (Laptops, HDTVs and a few other items can only be traded in through their website.)

Here's what happens: you present your item for trade-in, Radio Shack makes you an offer, and you accept the offer to get your gift card.

If you do the trade online, you'll get to print out a pre-paid postage label, so the whole program is free to you.

There's no word on the website about how your old electronics will be recycled or re-used, but since the one major requirement for your trade is that the products are in working order and can turn on, it appears the old devices will be refurbished and resold.

Give it a try. I'm sure there's a Radio Shack right around the corner from you.

Greenpeace Grades Electronics Makers on e-Waste

jplatt — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0400

Greenpeace has once again released its Guide to Greener Electronics, this time focusing on e-waste. Nokia and Samsung took the top slots, while HP, Lenovo and Dell were all penalized for failing to follow through on promises to phase out vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of the year.

Greenpeace did praise the company for the products they sell that don't have those chemicals, or use less of them, but took them to task for delaying their promise to stop using them altogether.

Apple also got praise for minimizing its use of PVCs and BFRs, a move Greenpeace says every company should be able to emulate, and Philips, which made huge strides in its battle against e-waste:

The Guide to Greener Electronics star this time goes to Philips -- and the 47,000 people who sent emails to the company!

The Dutch electronics giant reacted to our e-waste campaign with a dramatic about-turn on recycling and take-back. They've jumped from 15th to 4th place in one go. Following public pressure, the company has significantly improved its position on taking financial responsibility for the recycling of its products when they become e-waste.

You can download the entire report here.

The previous verison of the Greenpeace report, published in December 2008, focused on companies' climate leadership.

How to Recycle Your Old CDs and DVDs

jplatt — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0400

How many old CDs, DVDs or computer disks do you have lying around your home or office? If you're not using them any more, do you know how to dispose of them?

CDs and DVDs contain a variety of substances that make them bad candidates for landfills. In addition to plastics, there's aluminum and other materials that can be re-used rather than thrown away. So if you're planning on throwing some old CDs away, consider recycling them instead.

Your local community might accept and recycle CDs, so check with them first. If not, there are a number of companies that will collect your disks and recycle them for you. All of them will properly dispose of data disks so your data will be safe and them recycle the materials so they can be re-used for a variety of purposes.

In addition to the disks themselves, most of these companies will also recycle your old jewel cases and even the paper inserts that came with the disks!

Now, there is a catch: you'll need to pay for shipping to send your disks to any of these recyclers. But if you collect them instead of sending them one at a time, it should be worth the cost. (For example, you can set up a recycling program at your workplace to collect a great big pile of data disks before you send them in.)

Here are a few recycling companies worth checking out:

Oh, and don't forget: a used compact disk or a DVD might not have much value, but in addition to recycling, you can also re-use a disk for a variety of craft projects. Check out this list for some fun ideas.

Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause

jplatt — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Got any old computer equipment lying around? You could recycle it (see the Green Tech archives for plenty of stories about how), or you could put it in the hands of someone who will get some good use out of it.

That's the idea behind Computers With Causes, a charity that accepts old computers from individuals and businesses, refurbishes them, and gives them to people or organizations who need them.

This reduces e-waste, cuts down on clutter, and puts perfectly good electronics back to work where they can help change the world for the people or groups who receive them.

According to their website, "Computers with causes evaluates each and every donation on a case by case basis. Whenever financially beneficial, computers with causes will repair, refurbish, and properly prepare donated property for placement into an educational environment or other cause we support. The ultimate goal being to maximize the benefit of your donations both financially and through educational purposes to the communities in which we live."

Functioning computers will be put back to use in the community (say, for education purposes, use in foster homes, or for disabled veterans or other needy Americans). Non-fuctioning computers can even be useful, as they'll get donated to schools to help teach computer repair.

Anything Computers With Causes receives that can't be used gets recycled, using what they call a "zero landfill" process.

Donations earn you tax deductions, and some donations can even earn you a free vacation!

So if you've got an extra computer lying around, give Computers With Causes a shot. You'll benefit, the earth will benefit, and so will your community.

Upgrading Your Cell Phone? Go Green with Refurbished Phones

jplatt — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0500

How often do you replace your cell phone? Every two years? Every year? More often than that? How many cell phones have you gone through in your life so far?

Think about all of those old phones you used to own. What happened to them? Did they end up being recycled, or did they become electronic waste that is poisoning our land and water?

Or... did they get refurbished and resold to a new owner, someone who got an extra six months or two years of life out of a device you didn't want any more?

Buying refurbished phones is a great idea. Not only is it green -- it's better to keep a device in use than to make and sell a brand new one -- but you can often save a lot of money by purchasing a pre-used cell phone. For example, AT&T is selling refurbished 8G iPhones for just $99 -- that's half price!

Okay, that AT&T deal is only if you get a two-year contract, but they're far from the only source for refurbished phones. Credo Mobile offers several models (some of which are free with two-year contracts), as do other cell phone companies.

So think about this next time you decide to replace your phone. Do you really need the newest, hottest device with all the bells and whistles, or will last month's model do just as well? Check with your cell phone provider to see if they have refurbs for sale, or Google "refurbished cell phones" to find dozens of sites selling refurbished phones online. (You might need to check with your carrier to make sure they can activate your new phone.)

Finally Time to Recycle that VCR?

jplatt — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Do you still have an old VCR hooked up to your TV? Well, it just might end up being a useless paperweight in a few months. When the DTV transition takes places, television broadcast signals will switch to a digital format that is incompatible with many old VCRs.

This won't affect every VCR, and there are some expensive work-arounds you can try to keep your old VCR working, but if you finally decide to give up the video ghost, make sure you recycle your old electronics properly. Those VCRs contain circuit boards and other materials that can end up as toxic waste in the ground and water if they are not recycled carefully.

First of all, check with your local town to see what their rules are about electronics disposal. They might be able to handle it for you, for free or for a small fee.

You can also check Earth911.org to find a recycling center near you.

As for your old videotapes, why not donate them to your local libary? Not everyone will want to get rid of their VCRs, and those tapes might have a few good viewings left in them. Better to re-use something than to throw it away, after all.

Let Apple Recycle Your Computers, iPods and Cell Phones -- for Free!

jplatt — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Looking for a way to recycle your old electronics? Try Apple. They'll recycle your old computers, iPods and cell phones -- for free!

Computers -- In order to qualify, you need to buy a new Mac computer. But when you do, you can mail Apple your old computer and monitor, no matter who made it, for recycling. Good deal.

iPods -- Apple will take back any old iPod and recycle it responsibly. Just visit their site, enter in your name and address, and print out a postage-paid mailing label.(Sadly, they don't take any old MP3 player, just iPods.)

Cell Phones -- This is the easiest of all. It doesn't matter what kind of cell phone you have, or who made it. Apple will recycle it for you. Same process as above, just enter your name and address to print out a mailing label.

For iPods and cell phones, you can also request a free mailing envelope instead of printing a label yourself.

Three cheers to Apple for helping consumers to act responsibly when they dispose of their old devices!

A Blow to Cell Phone Recycling? Recycled Phones Found to Still Have Your Data

jplatt — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Hundreds of thousands of new cell phones are sold every year. Most of them go to replace older phones, which can end up being donated, refurbished and resold, thereby keeping them out of landfills and extending their life cycles.

But now comes word that, in a study of 2,000 recycled phones, a shocking 99% of them still had some amount of private data stored in their memory. This even included personal data like passwords and private emails, according to Regenersis, the UK-based cell phone recycler, which conducted the random test on the phones it was recycling.

Now, if your cell phone is a golden oldie like mine, there's probably not a lot of data on it. But if you're been migrating to smarter phones, or if you use yours for any type of online services, this could be more of a problem in the long run.

There are a few steps you can do to help ensure that your data is safe when you donate or recycle your phone:

1. Remove the SIM card. (This contains a good chunk of your private data.)

2. Take the time to clear your memory of your contacts, bookmarks, photos and other data.

3. Reformat your cell phone yourself, wiping out all of the old data in the process.

4. Confirm that the company recycling your phone wipes out all data, and does it well. (I think it's important to note here that Regenersis does not seem to be one of those companies that wipes phones clean. They rely on the people doing the donating to do that, which is kind of weak.)

Here's an earlier post that offers more tips on recycling your old phones.

Ritz Camera Introduces 100% Recyclable Rechargeable Battery

jplatt — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Looking for a better rechargeable battery? Ritz Camera has started selling what it calls "the first rechargeable battery that's nearly 100% recyclable and completely non-toxic and non-combustible." It's called the Quantaray Super Z, and it represents a pretty nice step forward in rechargeable technology.

The Quantaray Super Z rechargeable battery, manufactured by PowerGenix, uses a Nickel-Zinc (NiZn) battery chemistry that has already earned certification from both RoHS and Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC). NiZn is only the 5th battery chemistry ever to be certified by the RBRC, allowing it to be recycled at more than 50,000 collection sites across the US and Canada (including, not-so-coincidentally, all Ritz Camera stores).

NiZn also packs more energy than Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) or Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries, and provides a longer shelf life for the batteries that use it.

And finally, and perhaps more importantly, the batteries "contain no toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium or mercury and are the most recyclable rechargeable chemistry on the market."

The Super Z's aren't available online yet, but they are for sale at Ritz Camera locations for $14.99 (4-pack) and $49.99 (4-pack plus charger).

Eco-Friendly Batteries?

jplatt — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

At last week's Consumer Electronics Show, Fuji announced a new line of disposable batteries that the company says are so eco-friendly, they are "landfill safe."

The Fuji EnviroMAX batteries are free of cadmium, mercury and PVC, three of the chemicals that make other disposable batteries so dangerous when they are disposed of improperly. The batteries are also encased in plastic, not steel, making them, theoretically, more recycleable.

Here are all of Fuji's claims about the EnviroMAX:

Most of the resources used in the Fuji EnviroMAX production process are reused and recycled.
The substances of lead, cadmium and mercury are "totally abolished" in all FDK/Fuji Battery Factories - no matter what the usage.
No ozone depleting compounds are used in Fuji EnviroMAX production.
Fuji EnviroMAX batteries are packaged in recycled paper and recyclable P.E.T. plastic - Not hazardous and non-recyclable PVC plastic.
All Fuji Batteries plants comply with the European Union's RoHS Directives.
Fuji Batteries monitors all of its suppliers for environmental responsibility and requires certification that they do not use hazardous chemicals.

Of course, any battery that you still have to throw away is still less green than a rechargeable battery, so there's no way I can actually recommend this battery, but still, at least Fuji is thinking outside of the box.

Fuji EnviroMAX batteries will be initially available at Big Y stores in central Massachusetts and Shop' n Save in the St. Louis/Missouri areas, or through the Fuji EnviroMAX website.