simple + green

Following up on the CES show post, here is another thought. Are the computer monitors, TVs, hard drives that you take to a recyclery really being efficiently recycled? The answer may or may not surprise you:

According to Greencitizen, a San Francisco Bay Area company that helps individuals and organizations recycle electronics responsibly, the recycling process ends early.

Often the most valuable parts are removed in the first process, then remnants may pass through multiple “strippers” with the leftover toxic components ending up in our landfills or exported to developing nations.

This is why landfills in the US contain as much as 6% toxic waste and up to 80 percent of US electronic waste collected for “recycling” is dumped in Asia and Africa.

In these developing countries there are no environmental regulations, no safety regulations and no data security. Others are truly exporting harm.

A company like Greencitizen will actually recycle all elements of your electronics.

When you recycle with GreenCitizen, 100% of what you give us is truly recycled. Substances that can be recycled are reused; and toxic elements are disposed of safely.

By reusing glass, plastic, aluminum and heavy metals (like lead, copper and mercury), recycling prevents the energy use and pollution linked with mining and drilling for new materials that are becoming so scarce around the world.

Safe disposal of toxins from electronic waste is critical because the health of people and the environment depend on it.

GreenCitizen will accept the following for recycling:
* Monitors and Television Sets
* Printers / Fax Machines / Copiers
* Computers and Computer Accessories
* Home Entertainment and Stereo Equipment
* Phones
* CD’s or DVD’s, Floppy/Zip Disks, Video Tapes, Audio Tapes

Best of all, you can either visit one of the GreenCitizen dropoff centers, or you can set up a pickup.

Again, GreenCitizen is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. For those outside of this area, there are choices:
* Many large office supply stores accept used printer ink cartridges.
* Recycling mobile phones can happen at most cellphone retail outlets
* Many local waste management companies will accept (often for a charge) old electronic equipment.

I’m very impressed with GreenCitizen’s mission, and look to get my company on board with them.

If you know of anything comparable in your area, drop me a comment. I’ll feature all good feedback on this topic!