USA: Old electronics -- You and I know it's poison; why don't they?

Most people--certainly all readers of this tiny part of the electronic universe--know that unneeded, old electronic devices should be recycled or properly disposed of instead of simply putting them in the normal trash.  In case you have less-enlightened friends, relatives or neighbors who are not yet with the program needed to keep the world habitable--or if you are looking for some really unusual cocktail party conversation--here's a short list of some of the big reasons why recycling and proper disposal of electronic gadgets is so important:

• Arsenic.
• Beryllium.
• Cadmium.
• Lead.
• Mercury.
• Toxins (many and varied).

You probably recognize those as substances that are dangerous to life as we know it -- human life in particular, but life in general, too.  All of those substances are contained in computers, cell phones, tablets, cameras, televisions, radios, clocks and many other machines.  Under normal use and circumstances, they don't pose much, if any, threat to us.  But that's not necessarily true once they no longer work properly and we decide to be rid of them.

When electronic waste ends up in the typical household or business trash bin it is usually burned or interred in landfills.  Either way, the substances in that list up there--along with other elements and chemicals--are released into the air we breath, the water we drink and wash in, the soil that grows our food and which nourishes the domestic livestock--and even the wild game--that helps to satisfy our need for protein.  It's persistent, too; it hangs around for many years.  Shop organically if you care to, but it won't make much, or perhaps any, difference -- the nasty stuff seeps everywhere.  Be a vegan or a carnivore or an omnivore as you choose, you are still ingesting poisons which could be avoided with a little more care and effort on the part of individuals and businesses.

We've been aware of this for years--decades, even--but that doesn't mean that old electronics are safely recycled or trashed.  Different things that I have read on this subject indicate that America safely trashes or recycles only 20% of these devices, if that much.  Which means that you, good reader, are exemplary -- and, unfortunately, probably in the minority when it comes to proper treatment of dangerous trash.

There's plenty of readily-available information on the subject.  It will help in the identification of those items which should be recycled or properly disposed of as electronic waste, and will also point out convenient locations--often local retailers--where this can easily be done.

The EPA has much good and useful information on its web site.  They have a very big web site, so if you are interested specifically in the part that deals with recycling of electronics, click on this link here.

Additional resources are available from local trash collection firms, municipalities, county and state governments.

It's pretty easy to do this and do it well.  In my house, we keep a box on a shelf in the garage; any small defunct electronic gizmo goes into that box (batteries and CFLs, too) and then the box is eventually taken to a local county-authorized hazardous waste disposal center.  Functioning larger items--computers (without the original disk drive, which is physically destroyed to prevent disclosure of personal information, and then placed in the box in the garage), monitors, TVs and the like--might be taken to a local charitable organization that can refurbish and recycle.

You and I don't want to be slowly poisoned--or have our children or grandchildren or other descendants slowly poisoned--by electronic trash, so we do our little part to help make sure that doesn't happen.  It sure would be great if we could count on everybody doing the same thing.