[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
August 04, 2009: After pondering for a while today we finally decided to present a topic close to our hearts: Recycling Electronic Trash. As the saying goes - charity begins at home - so it was today. We went around the house collecting all unnecessary electronic items lying around in our cupboards, closets, boxes and every nook and corner of our home. In spite of a spring cleaning we were surprised at the amount of stuff we gathered. Here is a snapshot of our current e-trash.
Figure 1: Electronic trash - 1 Sun keyboard, 1 new Dell keyboard, 1 Verizon DSL modem, Half a dozen new DSL in-line filters, Few new cables of various types, 1 Tmobile/Samsung E105 cell phone
What next?
Recycling depends on the kind and type of electronic product. For some items multiple options might be available. Here is a list of suggestions and we should choose one that is most apt for us.
Sell
This is one of the most familiar ways of recycling an electronic product. Some well known online sites for doing so are Amazon, Ebay and Craiglist. We prefer Craiglist since it offers free listing and has a good local reach. Often we may find buyers right in our locality or neighborhood which might help us save on shipping. Also it provides an opportunity to make new friends. Our second choice is Amazon since it provides free listing. However we have to pay a commission (varying from 20 to 25% of our selling price) to Amazon once the item is sold. Cell phones can be sold at a number of sites. These vendors purchase the cell phones from us immediately thus doing away with the wait time associated with an online sale.
Exchange
Ah the good ol' fashioned barter is back! No wonder more sites are coming up which enable exchange of items. Swaptree is one of the more popular ones. Their service is totally FREE and is not limited to electronics goods alone. If you are interested in exchanging your old cell phones for gift certificates checkout RipMobile. For some time now, many cell phone dealers too have started Trade-In programs.
Donate
The doors of a Salvation Army or a Goodwill store are always open for our generosity. It is helpful to call ahead and know the hours when one of their staff would be present to accept the donations. Additionally it pays to maintain a list of items donated, the date of donation, the organization and its address to which we donated our goods. Also, do remember to collect receipts for your donations. No receipt no tax deductions - period.
Recycle responsibly
Often this is our last option. We request our readers to never trash e-junk. Since electronic goods are not biodegradable, trashing them kills our planet! Dust off the yellowpages or pick up the phone and kindly inquire with your local municipal or city office about its recycling program. E-Cycling Central provides the same information online at eiae.org. At this website, when we choose our state on the map of USA, it immediately lists the available e-cycling programs for that particular state.
Last but not the least, knowing that we have played our part responsibly towards saving our precious environment fills us with an immense feeling of contentment. We would like to invite our readers to be proactive and take part in this noble cause. Hopefully the information presented in this article will help you to embark upon a happy save-the-environment project :).
Image Source(s): iStockPhoto
Figure 1: Electronic trash - 1 Sun keyboard, 1 new Dell keyboard, 1 Verizon DSL modem, Half a dozen new DSL in-line filters, Few new cables of various types, 1 Tmobile/Samsung E105 cell phoneWhat next?
Recycling depends on the kind and type of electronic product. For some items multiple options might be available. Here is a list of suggestions and we should choose one that is most apt for us.
Sell
This is one of the most familiar ways of recycling an electronic product. Some well known online sites for doing so are Amazon, Ebay and Craiglist. We prefer Craiglist since it offers free listing and has a good local reach. Often we may find buyers right in our locality or neighborhood which might help us save on shipping. Also it provides an opportunity to make new friends. Our second choice is Amazon since it provides free listing. However we have to pay a commission (varying from 20 to 25% of our selling price) to Amazon once the item is sold. Cell phones can be sold at a number of sites. These vendors purchase the cell phones from us immediately thus doing away with the wait time associated with an online sale. Exchange
Ah the good ol' fashioned barter is back! No wonder more sites are coming up which enable exchange of items. Swaptree is one of the more popular ones. Their service is totally FREE and is not limited to electronics goods alone. If you are interested in exchanging your old cell phones for gift certificates checkout RipMobile. For some time now, many cell phone dealers too have started Trade-In programs.Donate
The doors of a Salvation Army or a Goodwill store are always open for our generosity. It is helpful to call ahead and know the hours when one of their staff would be present to accept the donations. Additionally it pays to maintain a list of items donated, the date of donation, the organization and its address to which we donated our goods. Also, do remember to collect receipts for your donations. No receipt no tax deductions - period.Recycle responsibly
Often this is our last option. We request our readers to never trash e-junk. Since electronic goods are not biodegradable, trashing them kills our planet! Dust off the yellowpages or pick up the phone and kindly inquire with your local municipal or city office about its recycling program. E-Cycling Central provides the same information online at eiae.org. At this website, when we choose our state on the map of USA, it immediately lists the available e-cycling programs for that particular state.Last but not the least, knowing that we have played our part responsibly towards saving our precious environment fills us with an immense feeling of contentment. We would like to invite our readers to be proactive and take part in this noble cause. Hopefully the information presented in this article will help you to embark upon a happy save-the-environment project :).Image Source(s): iStockPhoto
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