Do Your Part: Top
5 Solutions to E-waste
The season of gadgets will soon be upon us. There
will be the “must-have” cell phones, tablets, computers, gaming devices, and
all the rest of it. So what happens to your old electronics once you’ve
upgraded? Do Your Part and don’t let it go to waste. Here are my Top 5
Solutions to E-Waste.
1) Trade-In for Cash or Gift Cards
Don’t trash your electronics in a landfill. They
not only contaminate our environment with toxic heavy metals but they’re also
still quite valuable! There are many websites devoted to giving you cash or
gift cards for your unwanted gadgets. EBay’s Instant Sale program allows users
to instantly sell or recycle their old electronic devices like laptops,
camcorders, PDAs and more. They, and other sites such as NextWorth and
Gazzelle, do the same thing and offer pre-paid shipping labels. Plus, you won’t
have to guess how much it’s worth; the websites give you that information in
seconds.
2) Donate to Goodwill’s ReConnect Program
If you have a computer, hard drive, or printer you
are willing to donate, Goodwill’s ‘Reconnect’ program is ideal. The non-profit
and Dell partner on ‘Reconnect’ so nearly 2,000 participating Goodwill
locations across the U.S. will accept any brand of computer equipment. Goodwill
either sells or responsibly recycles the products and all the money made is
used to create job training and employment opportunities for people in your
community. Goodwill also takes care of wiping all of the personal information
off of working hard drives.
3) Give Cell Phones to Soldiers &
Other Good Causes
Cell Phones for Soldiers is another non-profit
organization about which I am passionate. It provides prepaid calling cards for
U.S. troops stationed overseas with every donated cell phone they receive.
March of Dimes, Keep America Beautiful and Call To Protect are other non-profits
that collect cell phones for their missions.
4) Reconsider Your Upgrade
Before you upgrade to a new cell phone or other
device, take a good look at the item you are about to stop using. Do you really
need the latest model or does the one you have now do the job? Curbing some of
our electronic impulse buys will help keep even more e-waste out of our
landfills.
5) Get Involved
Take action where you live to help people
responsibly recycle e-waste. Every state and community has different rules on
regulating e-waste. The Electronics Take Back Coalition tracks e-waste laws
state-by-state and works to promote manufacturer responsibility.
The season of giving is just around the corner but
it’s important to remember to Do Your Part for the planet at the same time. One
important way is by being responsible with the outdated electronics you or your
loved ones will no longer be using.
© 2011, Terri Bennett Enterprises, LLC. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
