The growing trend of "Ecycling"

The use of electronic products has grown substantially over the past two decades. Many computer manufacturers, TV manufacturers, and electronics retailers offer some kind of take back program or sponsor recycling events.

Even state legislation is picking up the trend, passing bills to manage dead electronics.

Recycling electronics recovers valuable materials, such as precious metals, copper, and engineered plastics, and results in lower environmental emissions (including greenhouse gases).

Recycling 1 million desktop computers prevents the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual emissions of over 17,000 passenger cars. Recycling 1 million cell phones saves enough energy to power more than 19,000 U.S. households with electricity for an entire year.

There are places near you to ecycle. The Best Buy in Hadley will pick up old electronics when they deliver its new replacement. In the store, they take in cell phones, various batteries, and ink cartridges, but there are a growing number of locations taking in computers.

For more information on ecycling, you can call waste management at (877) 439-2795, or go to www.earth911.com.