From Guest Blogger Hannah Whittenly: Only 12.4% of E-Waste is Recycled–How to Properly Dispose of Your Old Electronics

If you have e-waste, the most important thing is to not just throw it away in the trash. It ends up in a landfill and could be there for thousands of years. Over time, that can have a huge impact on the environment and society’s health. This is important to consider as only 12.4% of e-waste is actually recycled. That means that 87.6% of it is being sent to clog up our landfills. Don’t let your e-waste contribute to that! Instead, get rid of it using one of these methods.

Learn to Fix Things

If you learn how to fix old or broken electronics, it’s much easier to get rid of them. Once you learn how to fix things, you can fix almost any broken electronic. Fix the items and sell them for a fair price or give them away to people who need them. Consider going to e-waste exchange events with other people who have electronics they fixed.

Find a Recycling Center

Taking your e-waste to a location like Ranch Town Recycling Center Inc. allows you to get rid of it responsibly. Recycling centers know what to do with the waste and it doesn’t end up in landfills. There are different centers that do different things, but some only accept e-waste on certain days. Make sure you contact the center before to learn what they have to offer and how you can drop your e-waste off when you’re ready.

Repurpose the Items

There are many ways to repurpose your old electronics. You can even use old computer monitors as fish tanks! Think outside the box when it comes to old electronics. If you know what you need to do, you can figure out the best way to help yourself get all the electronics taken care of. Repurposing them the right way allows you to really see what the items are worth and get more from them than you could from giving them away.

Donate E-Waste

Some places will accept e-waste as a donation. They use the money they get from the e-waste collections to help a charity event. In some cases, you may even be able to write the donation off on your taxes. Donating your items helps you and gives you a chance to see there are things you can do that allow you to make all the best choices for e-waste recycling.

Get involved and make sure you recycle your e-waste the right way. No matter how you choose to recycle your e-waste, it’s better than throwing it away. You’re helping the environment and reducing the amount of waste that’s in landfills. By helping the environment, you can do your part in giving back to the earth and being green.