If you take look around, whether you are in your house, at school, or almost anywhere for that matter, what do you notice? If you think about it, technology and electronics occupy many aspects of our lives in this day in age. From computers to televisions, all of your household appliances, cell phones, and video game consoles, you name it --it’s everywhere. But these things all become out-dated quickly, and as a result, we throw away what we have, and go buy the latest and greatest gadget. The problem is, much of those old electronics have toxic metals and chemicals in them.
But where does the old stuff go?
Every time someone throws something “away”, it usually goes to a landfill, a giant hole in the ground filled with everyone’s collective trash. Those toxic chemicals and metals (which include vast amounts of mercury, lead, and cadmium) are simply thrown into the landfill, where it will take them a very long time to degrade. In the meantime, those chemicals stay there for many, many years creating a dangerous environment for both humans and animals. Those chemicals can contaminate water supplies, and endanger any animal or person that comes into contact with them.
Fortunately, people are beginning to become more aware of what they throw away, and it is becoming a common tack to recycle your goods. It’s not hard to recycle, in fact, not much harder than throwing your stuff away. There are many recycling centers and organizations devoted to recycling electronics.
Remember: before you throw something away, think of these facts:
Electronic waste or “e-waste” commonly makes up about 70% of the material in landfills.
Many CRT televisions have between 4 and 8 pounds of lead in them. That’s usually 20% of the television set alone.
In 2005, nearly 2 million tons of electronic waste ended up in landfills.