GreeniacsArticles
Waste
E Waste Dont Trash It
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Written by Marianne Peters, Greeniac11213
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| Friday, 06 February 2009 | ||||
E-Waste: Don’t Trash It!We disagree on one thing, though: I’m a Tosser and he’s a Keeper. I would recycle anything not nailed down—even important household documents. (I admit I’m a little hasty at times!) He keeps the envelopes of bills long paid and old ticket stubs. What can I say? I married a sentimental guy. I’ve decided to finally get rid of the old electronics cluttering the house. The ancient VCR gathering dust. The radio/cassette player that went kaput. The electric pencil sharpener that refused to sharpen a crayon and perished shortly thereafter. And I’m ridding the house of the cell phones that we finally replaced after years of use. At the phone store, the curious sales representative inspected Tim’s old device and mused, “Yeah, they used to make them that way.” He looked at my phone and just shook his head. We felt as if we were appearing on “Antiques Roadshow.” We now own new phones, but what do we do with the old ones? Millions of people throw them away in regular trash, destined for landfills. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, we Americans toss 130 million cell phones every year. In one five-year period, we also trashed 250 million computers. We’ve invented a new term for this: e-waste. Electronic waste now represents 5% of our trash; it even tops beverage containers and disposable diapers! And no wonder. As technology continues to advance at a faster and faster rate, new upgrades tempt us—who doesn’t want that sexy new iPod or flat-screen TV? The problem: e-waste is often loaded with heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium that could leach from landfills into our groundwater. Tossing it into a Dumpster is not the answer. Here are some strategies for handling these gadgets: Don’t upgrade right away. Resist the urge to possess the latest and greatest. I hung on to my old cell phone for years; it took me that long to figure out the functions! We own a Bose CD player as old as our marriage of 16 years. The music still sounds great. Why upgrade when what you’ve got still works? Use local waste management services. If you do decide to throw out the old stereo, remember that it doesn’t go in regular trash; I keep a box in my garage just for e-waste. Drop off your old electronics off at your local solid waste management district office for recycling and safe disposal. Usually it’s free; a nominal fee may be charged. Donate your old electronics. Local charities will accept your electronics as long as they are still in good working condition. If your computer still works, don’t just toss it: there are non-profit organizations that refurbish old computers and give them to people who can’t afford a new one. Refer to the EPA website for more information on electronics donation in your area: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm. Tosser vs. Keeper controversies continue at our house. I wanted to replace our 20-year-old Sony TV; the color gave out long before the set did. I whined. My children watched “Clifford, the Big Blue Dog.” My husband just couldn’t part with it. Finally, one day, it emitted a loud “pop” and went dead. I poked the “on” switch. Nothing. Yippee! Time for an upgrade at last! © First North American Rights, 2009. Reprinted with permission of owner.
1. 23-02-2009 20:25 i love your writing style! Registered Only registered users can write comments. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 07 February 2011 ) | ||||
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Green Facts
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American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting through rush hour traffic. This adds up to 23 billion gallons of gas wasted in traffic each year.
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An aluminum can that is thrown away instead of recycled will still be a can 500 years from now!
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Due to tiger poaching, habitat destruction, and other human-tiger conflicts, tigers now number around 3,200—a decrease in population by about 70% from 100 years ago.
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A laptop consumes five times less electricity than a desktop computer.
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You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that you replace with a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), over the life of the bulb.
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A tree that provides a home with shade from the sun can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.
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States with bottle deposit laws have 35-40% less litter by volume.
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The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million people die prematurely worldwide every year due to air pollution.
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For every 38,000 bills consumers pay online instead of by mail, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved.
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82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from burning fossil fuels.
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Less than 1% of electricity in the United States is generated from solar power.
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A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by about 70%.
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Americans throw away more than 120 million cell phones each year, which contribute 60,000 tons of waste to landfills annually.
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Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch.
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Shaving 10 miles off of your weekly driving pattern can eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
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Current sea ice levels are at least 47% lower than they were in 1979.
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Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct.
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One recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours.
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77% of people who commute to work by car drive alone.
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Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
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You will save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive if you always keep your car’s tires fully inflated.
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In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and you'll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel.
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If every U.S. household turned the thermostat down by 10 degrees for seven hours each night during the cold months, and seven hours each weekday, it would prevent nearly gas emissions.
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Washing your clothes in cold or warm instead of hot water saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, and drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds.
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Recycling 100 million cell phones can save enough energy to power 18,500 homes in the U.S. for a year.
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Recycling for one year at Stanford University saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.
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It takes 6,000,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for the world.
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You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.
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In California homes, about 10% of energy usage is related to TVs, DVRs, cable and satellite boxes, and DVD players.
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Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.
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Glass can be recycled over and over again without ever wearing down.
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Recycling 1 million laptop computers can save the amount of energy used by 3,657 homes in the U.S. over the course of a year.
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A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
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Refrigerators built in 1975 used 4 times more energy than current models.
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Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months
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Nudge your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter to prevent 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
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Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than equivalent stands of trees.
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Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save as much as 10 gallons a day per person.
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Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.


