Recycle your Electronics!

Yesterday, as I was walking through Union Square Park, I saw a massive electronics recycling collection site. It got me thinking about just how much of what we use we never think to recycle. Something like a piece of paper may make it into the recycle bin, but e-waste, electronics that are at the end of their use, is a growing segment of our landfills. 

E-waste, which can include computers, tv's, phones, stereos or ipods, made up 2 million tons of waste in 2005, only 15% of which was recycled. What makes electronics an especially important category to recycle is that they are often filled with toxic chemicals which can leak into landfills...scary stuff.

So next time you're finished with a computer or cell phone, research ways to recycle, refurbish, or reuse it instead of tossing it into the dumpster.

Here are some ideas:

Apple , Dell , HP and Gateway all have recycling programs

Visit http://www.greenerchoices.org/electronicsrecycling/el_computers.cfm?Page=Recycle#Computer

for more recycling info.