Any environmentalist knows that recycling makes a lot of sense. You probably already recycle your paper, plastic and aluminum waste right in your kitchen and you may recycle other things, too. But what do you do with old electronics? Many Americans store old electronics in boxes in their basement or garage, and some Americans just throw them into the garbage where they sit for thousands of years in a landfill. There is a better alternative, though. Donate your recyclable electronics to charity. Many charities accept your old electronics and donate the money to excellent causes.
One such program, Recycling for Charities, accepts cell phones, palm pilots, digital cameras, iPods and similar items for a value that is then donated to the charity of your choice. Once Recycling for Charities gets your electronics, they reference a number of vendors who buy the items and the purchase amount is donated to charities. If the donated electronics aren't in good or working condition, Recycling for Charities separates the items' components and smelt them. The smelted materials are then reused by electronic manufacturing companies to make new electronics.
Another non-profit organization that will take your trash is Excess Access. It's a system that matches your donations with the wish lists of non-profit organizations. So, say you donate a table to Excess Access and a non-profit group needs a table; Excess Access oversees that process. It's that simple.
Recycle Free takes inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and cell phones throughout the United States. Recycle Free helps you to recycle your old cell phones and cartridges responsibly and they'll give you a few bucks for doing it. Recycle Free takes an approach similar to Recycling for Charities. They'll try to reuse your old electronics, and if that's not possible, they'll break everything down and reuse the raw materials.
National Cristina Foundation is another non-profit organization that accepts computer equipment. They then match the donated computer equipment with needy schools and non-profit organizations all over the world. Even if your computer is broken, you can donate it. They'll fix it up (at no charge to you) and donate it to someone who doesn't have a computer.
Another great non-profit organization is Cell Phones for Soldiers. It's a program that accepts old cell phones and turns them into minutes for United States army troops stationed overseas. Once Cell Phones for Soldiers acquires your donated phone, they'll send it to ReCellular, which then gives Cell Phones for Soldiers an hour of talk time for soldiers abroad.
As you can see there's no reason to store your old cell phone or computer in a box somewhere. Instead, donate it! You'll keep your old phone out of a landfill and put it into the hands of someone who can use it. EnviroCitizen.org thinks this is a great way to avoid creating more waste! |
