what you need to know about e-waste and the environment
DESCRIPTION
E-Waste is a big contributor to pollution, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some fast facts about electronics waste and what you can do to help the environment.TRANSCRIPT
What You Need to Know about E-Waste and the Environment
What is E-Waste? E-waste consists of the
electronic devices that people throw away instead of reselling or recycling.
Items that are commonly thrown away include: televisions, computers, video game consoles, and cell phones.
In 2009 alone, it was estimated that Americans threw out nearly 2.37 million tons of e-waste.
Fast Facts about E-Waste Only 25 percent of
electronics are recycled or reused.
More amazingly, only 8 percent of cell phones are saved from landfills every day.
Experts believe that e-waste can contaminate the ground and ground water, which could lead to significant health problems.
Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent needed to power 3,600
US homes for an entire year!
Recycle Your Old Phones You can recycle your old
cell phones and make cash by selling them.
Resellers take old phones and refurbish them so that they can be reused. If the phones are no longer working, they then recycle the devices.
You can feel good about doing something great for the environment while putting cash in your pocket.
Where can You Recycle E-Waste? Televisions and large
items can be recycled through local electronics recycling drives.
You can also call your local recycling center for these bigger items.
For small personal electronics, such as smartphones, you can turn to Smartphone-buyer.com.