Electronic Waste Recycling

E-Waste

           

Everyone can admit to wanting to keep up with the latest and greatest in technological devices. At some point in time we look at the growing pile of old iPhones, iPods, laptops and charging cords and wonder what to do with them. The best practice when disposing of these items is to look for a way to recycle them. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), “Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by more than 3,500 US homes in a year.” And for every million cell phones recycled, “35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.” And recycling produces jobs. http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/donate.htm

Here are a few tips for recycling your electronics:

• Make sure they are all wiped clean of all personal data. Don’t know how to do this task? Walk into an Apple store and ask them for help. They will make sure no personal information pops up on your phone.
• If you can, remove batteries from your devices, they may need to be recycled separately. 
• Decide if you want to donate or completely recycle your electronic. If your old IPhone is still functional and you only wanted that new upgrade, think about donating it to a charity. If it’s your old lap top that finally gave up the ghost, recycle that completely. 

Want to know where to recycle your electronics? Contact one of the following businesses.

• 5A Rent-A-Space: Our three site locations have monthly e-waste events. Contact our locations for more information: in Foster City, Ca, Moraga, Ca for monthly recycling and Lahaina, HI for periodic recycling. http://www.5aspace.com/
• Companies such as Best Buy, major phone carriers (Sprint, LG, Samsung, and ATT) and electronic manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Apple etc.) often recycle mobile devices, laptops and televisions. 
• Cell Phones for Soldiers (http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/) is one of the many companies that take donated phones and provide them to soldiers who are in need of a low-cost way to call home.

  For more information concerning recycling, e-waste and other related topics, see our company Pinterest profile.  https://www.pinterest.com/5aspace/