Hazardous Consumption
Posted byBlack Friday, Cyber Monday…Tis the Season to spend money lala la la la la la la la! What ads did you shop? Almost all the big name retailers out there areadvertising the all-time “lowest” prices available for TVs, Blu Rays, Laptops,Cell Phones, X-Box, PlayStation, Wii, etc. Admittedly, there are some greatdeals out there; so many that you may feel queasy about what you recently spenton your current electronic gear. You may even be swayed, as many are, toupgrade to the most recent version of the recent version upgrade you justpurchased not so long ago. Keeping up Jones’ (or I guess the Kardashian’stoday) requires maintaining your electronic repertoire in a socially consumptivemanner. Out with the old and in with the new for the New Year right? Wrong!
Sure you might upgrade from last year’s version of the latestand greatest of gadgets, tossing the others to the curb without looking back,but they and their poisonous contents don’t simply go away because you throwthem away. See, the sneaky thing about all these must have wonders is that theyare ultimately made up of hazardous materials that when thrown away composehazardous waste! Yes, yes all of those televisions, cell phones, laptops, andother goodies contain harmful substances and carcinogens such as lead, mercury,cadmium, and other skull and cross bone substances! Very comforting to knowthat most of us have these items in abundance in our homes and we play withthem daily!
Think back a few years when in order to be able to actuallywatch TV we were given the option of getting the sleek skinny new flat panel TVsor digital converter boxes (or crazy subscriptions for cable) so that we couldhappily continue to watch hours upon hours of television daily. A large percentageof Americans purchased new TVs and trashed their old ones (some were recycled,many were not) at this time. Well unknown or perhaps ignored by many was the weightin lead contained in those old tubes -about 4-8 pounds! Talk about a substancewe don’t like to have in our presence, I mean most landlords require tenants tosign a waiver of liability if the dwelling may have had lead paint at onetime-I don’t ever recall signing a waiver when buying a TV! Worse yet I don’tever recall receiving information about how to dispose of an old TV when buyinga new one!
Don’t fret! If you, like many others (myself included) havepurchased a TV recently and intend to keep upgrading all of your electronicgoodies (tablets, blu rays, dvd, MP3, laptops, HDMI, gaming consoles, etc.) youcan do so wisely. Hey, it is your money after all-spend as you wish, but pleasedispose of your old gear in a responsible (and legal) manner. Many manufacturestoday are required to provide recycling programs that allow you to evict yourold stuff in a safe and proper manner and many disposal companies and landfillswon’t allow you to dispose of your e-waste openly. Please don’t drop them onthe side of the road! Check out the following links to see where you can responsiblyand legally dispose of used electronics.
or Call Metro Recycling: 503-234-3000
Donation agencies such as Goodwill are decent venues forpassing off your old reliables as well. The following link can help you find adonation center and estimates how your donation impacts the environment!
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