Monday, August 11, 2008

Ask The Green Miles: Computer Recycling

Here's a question for Ask The Green Miles:
Hi Green Miles... so what do I do with my old iMac computer once I get the data off of it?? I have no idea!!
Help me.

Sincerely,
It's Not Easy Being Green
Good question, bad pseudonym. It is easy to be green. The people who made your computer say so right on their website.

Apple offers free recycling of old computers. All you have to do is register on their website and take your packaged computer to the nearest FedEx location. Most other computer manufacturers will help you recycle your computer as well.

You can also donate your computer to the National Cristina Foundation. It will then match your donation to charities, schools and public agencies.

In case neither of those options work for you, the National Recycling Coalition can help connect you with your local government's recycling program. In DC, DPW offers a free, weekly Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) and electronic recycling (e-cycling) drop-off service at the Benning Road Trash Transfer Station, 3200 Benning Road, NE, each Saturday from 8am to 3pm. The weekly dropoffs started recently after the bi-annual e-cycling event turned into an epic fail.

Why do you need to recycle your computer and other household electronics? A study by the New Jersey Institute of Technology found consumer electronics account for only 1 percent of the total content of landfills by volume, but contribute up to 70 percent of their toxic content. Inform has more details. Grist's Ask Umbra is also a great resource for this and other issues.

Got an environmental question? Ask The Green Miles!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool, I was just wondering what to do with an old Epson printer that no longer works. They have the same FedEx service on their website!

Carl said...

Great post. There are now many options for computer recycling. I wrote an article about the topic which lists a few other options as well.