e-cycling.

[Godiva]

What to do with your old consumer electronics.

"Some of the big gifts this year were HDTVs, gaming consoles, GPS units and other gadgety items. But when new items enter the home, often that means old gadgets get the boot. Be sure to send them to a happy hunting ground by properly recycling them.

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition provides several excellent Consumer Guides that walk you through just how you go about finding a recycling facility for your old electronics. It can be worrisome, since you have to be careful your device is going to a responsible recycler and not someone who will ship it overseas to an unregulated and often highly toxic facility."

[Rae Vynn]

We've generally posted our still-working electronics on boards like 2good2toss.com, where they have all found a home with someone happy to have them!
Most major retailers will take back the old version of something you've bought from them, like monitors, computers, ink jet cartridges, etc.

[Godiva]

There's also Freecycle on yahoo for giveaways. Or Craig's list in the free section. This is how I get rid of my ghost poops (styrofoam peanuts) and bubblewrap. Someone is always more than happy to pick it up and reuse it for their packing.

Most of my electronics are dead by the time I discard them.

[donee]

Hi Godiva,

Freecycle is a bit like the French Civil War. There is a some person at each local gate, and he/she makes a decisions if you get to participate. And the decisions seem to be totally arbitrary and not well considered.

So, anybody watching, My opinion is Freecycle is a waste of time. Don't bother.

[PriuStorm]

Sorry, donee, I have to disagree with you completely. I have gotten so much useful stuff on Freecycle, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in recycling, reusing and refurbisihing. Not only do we receive, but we also give away. To me, it's like a bank of goodwill in the community... folks are constantly making deposits and withdrawals.

Another upside is sharing knowledge... folks are constantly sharing information on composting, etc. even though this isn't the purpose of freecycle, but you get to know who the 'regulars' are and you kind of get to know each other like you do with any internet community.

[donee]

HI PS,

I cannot agree more with you that reusing is a great thing, and we need to do allot more of it as a nation.

That said, I think FREECYCLING organized and limited by membership is a FARCE, NOTHING NEW, AND IS NEGATIVE towards reuse activities.

People should just use an unemcumbered means - such as CRAIG'S LIST to do reuse give aways.

If you have not guessed by now for some totally unexplained reason (they do this by giving you like 5 reasons why you might be) I was rejected from access to the local Freecyling list.

What MALARKY. They are taking away my access to people who would have just taken stuff I have to give by looking at Craig's List, and spiriting these people away into some sorta adolescent clique.

I even see where these people who run these lists are fighting amoungst them selves - ie the UK and US freecyclers are fighting over access rules to the networks. Again - WE DO NOT NEED THIS. Freecylcers should get out of the way and let people do what comes naturally.

If they want to promote reuse, then do it. There are plenty of activities available to promote reuse, without limiting who can post stuff to be reused.

[PriuStorm]

Hi donee,
I guess I should consider myself fortunate that I have not experienced what you have w.r.t. fighting on the freecycle forums. I do use craigslist, but also find freecycle just as unencumbered as craigslist... actually even more so since all the messages are delivered to my inbox and I can sort through them at my leisure.

I'm sorry that your experience has been so poor and that you've experienced multiple rejections. Through our local carbon diet program, I have turned dozens of people towards freecycle. These were people who didn't use Craigslist either, so I think overall that has a net positive effect, not negative, in that more people are utilizing a community system instead of turning to retail for purchases or dumping their bygones in the trash.

I hope you'll accept that some of us will continue to use freecycle with good results and that some areas can run it successfully.

[jayman]

Of course, we don't properly recycle our electronics. We just send them on a slow boat back to China, where the locals use toxic solvents to separate the gold from the integrated circuits. Or, we ship to whatever third world country is willing to look the other way with respect to worker health and safety

BBC NEWS | Africa | Nigeria fears e-waste 'toxic legacy'

High tech toxic trash causing horrendous pollution in Ghana - Discover the Size of Your Carbon Footprint - Zimbio

etc

Of course, whether the production of electronics, energy (Oil), finished goods, there was a very good reason why we pushed that industry to third world countries. That way, we can act smug, pretend to "recycle," while dumping the problem halfway round the world