How to Dispose of old Electronics and help the Environment

(400 Words)
Do not simply throw your old electronics into the garbage. These items contain many valuable resources including metals, plastics and glass, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Instead you can recycle or donate these items. This will lower pollution and save a great deal of energy. The EPA reports that 1 million pounds of cell phones being recycled leads to 772 pounds of silver, 35,000 pounds of copper, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium.
Before you dispose of your old electronics, you want to make sure that you safeguard your information. Erase your entire address book and all personal information from your cell phone. You can erase a hard drive with Darik’s Boot and Nuke. Disc Utility works on macs to do the same thing. It is unlikely that someone would go after your information, but it is not impossible and you want to safeguard yourself.
Next you need to consider where to donate your used items. Sometimes a particular organization will call for items like cell phones. They may donate them to needy people, for instance. For instance, in some places, Goodwill and the Salvation Army will take donations of old electronics.
You can also look at a store donation program. Many different stores will take old electronics. Sometimes they will give you a special deal if you recycle a piece of old electronics. For instance, they may give you a discount on a new item of the same type when you bring in the old one. Make sure to read about all restrictions associated with such programs.
Many of the popular and common stores offer a recycling program. According to the EPA, Best Buy offers options including haul-away, online, event and in-store recycling. They recycle almost all types of electronics including DVD players, cell phones, audio cables, video cables, televisions and more. If you go to the website, they give a detailed list of exactly what they will take or you can call the local store.
There are other traditional and online sources that recycle electronics. Staples offers recycling as does Dell. Other organizations that offer this include Dell, LG, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Sprint. The EPAs website goes into detail about what items each organization will recycle.
Recycling electronic items is good for everyone. It helps the environment and can make you feel better that you are not contributing to waste.