You may be recycling, but are you ecycling?
Nowadays, it’s pretty easy to find a recycling bin to put your plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, and magazines. The one thing you do not usually hear about or see often is a place to recycle your electronics. This type of recycling is known as ecycling. Americans have about 24 electronics per household, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Electronics have valuable materials that should be prevented from going into the waste stream. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that for every million cell phones we recycle, 35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered. This makes a huge impact on us and the environment.
So to help you start, TGSN has a few tips on how to correctly recycle your electronics:
1. Instead of purchasing a brand new electronic, consider upgrading the hard or software on your old one.
2. Delete all personal information, apps, & history from your electronics.
3. Remove any batteries from your electronics because they may need to be recycled separately.
To find ecycling centers near you, click here.
Photo credited to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/5575089139/in/gallery-125047476@N04-72157645148480909/