More Trash Talk

Electronics technology moves so fast that the computer you buy today is likely to become disposable in five years or less. That's just computers and peripherals - how often are you replacing your cell phone, your TV, your PDA, your game consoles, cameras...? About that frequently, I'm guessing. At least they're getting smaller! Still, that's a LOT of electronic stuff that's getting tossed in landfills, and to make matters worse, there are frequently substances in electronics that are harmful to the environment if they leech into the system (which they do). It is estimated that over 100 million mobile phones are tossed into landfills each year. And then there are batteries... but we'll get into that another day.

Amazon.com has an awesome program called Green Earth Exchange. They pay shipping. You send your old electronics equipment. If it can be recycled, they will give you the value of it as an amazon.com gift card. If not, they recycle it responsibly for free. It's win-win. Over the past year they've recycled a million pounds of electronics! Check out that link if, like me, you've got half a dozen old keyboards lying around, not to mention bits of computers long since defunct.

Please recycle!