Due to a combination of my infrequent changes of residence and historically being a pack-rat, I found myself saddled with a sizeable portion of broken and unwanted electronics and computer-related flotsam and jetsam before moving into my new place several months ago. I was loathe to simply toss this e-waste in the trash, tempting as this prospect was after several days of packing and hauling stuff from my old house to new apartment (how on Earth did I, a self-proclaimed environmentalist and non-materialistic, small-carbon-footprint-having urbanite, acquire so much junk?).
Like Andie MacDowell's character in Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies and Videotape, I'm prone to feelings of anxiety when thinking about all the garbage we produce in this country. The trash barges floating off the north-east U.S. coast in the late 1980s, denied entry at every port, are a stark reminder of the enormous costs (both environmental and, for people like me, psychological) of our consumption-based economy.
When improperly disposed of, e-waste leaches toxic substances into our food and water supply: cadmium (kidney problems), lead (poisoning of children), mercury (brain damage), chromium VI (asthmatic bronchitis), brominated flame retardants (cancer of the digestive and lymph systems), and more. A recent EPA report estimates that 304 million electronic devices were removed from U.S. households in 2005, with 2/3 of those products still in working order, according to Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) estimates. That amount represents approximately 1.9 to 2.2 million tons of used and unwanted electronics, of which 1.5 to 1.9 million tons were primarily discarded in landfills. Only 345,000 to 370,000 tons were recycled.
The electronics industry generates $2 billion a year, and Americans own nearly three billion electronic products. When planned obsolescence is the norm for computers, TVs, cell phones, and MP3 players, what is a conscientious, neurotic environmentalist to do with all this electronic debris?
Luckily, a little on-line research produced some results. Here in Seattle, there is a company called 3R Technology that, for a reasonable fee, accepts a wide range of electronic items that shouldn’t be tossed into the garbage. For $24, I was able to get rid of the following: microwave oven; portable radio, CD and cassette players; computer printers, mouse and CPU; phone; rechargeable batteries and recharger, calculator, digital alarm clock, camera, pen-light, and more. 3R Technology guarantees that nothing they accept will enter a landfill; they will either repair/resell or recycle them, break down the parts for reuse, or even take them home (the man who did my in-take of items needed a microwave oven and thus didn't charge me for it). And, to top it all off, if you don't have a way to schlep your junk downtown to their Pioneer Square location, they will arrange to pick it up, at no extra charge. This was the best $24 I've spent in awhile.
The other great service I recently discovered is IPod Mechanic, located in Michigan. For a mere penny, they will email you a pre-paid UPS shipping label so you can send your broken IPod (see "planned obsolescence") to them for a no-obligation repair estimate. After they email you the diagnosis and cost to repair it, you can either accept the repair charges, decline the repair and have the IPod shipped back, or decline the repair and donate the IPod to them. Since my estimate was $100, and I could buy a brand-new model for only $150 more, I chose Option C and donated mine, even though they offered to throw in a new battery free of charge. Another highly recommended service, one that recycles and reuses parts from the ever-growing pool of IPods throughout the globe. For one cent, you can't go wrong.
With the rampant green-washing and dubious “environmental” business ventures proliferating in this late-capitalist/climate-change era, it's nice to discover truly green businesses, like 3R Technology and IPod Mechanic, that are part of the solution instead of part of the movement to simply cash-in on our real concerns about the planet. Kudos to both.
