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If someone asked you what can be done about e-Waste, what would you say? When the subject of e-waste comes up, it’s usually in an environmental context. The image most people have of e-waste is electronics device that are mass produced, like smart phones, and get updated so rapidly that the number of used phones being discarded keeps rising. Since only about a third of unwanted smartphones gets recycled today, that means most end up in a ...

In the United States, there are no federal environmental laws that deal with the disposal of e-waste or address the environmental impact of tossing used electronics out with regular household trash. The states have no federal rules to follow, no regulations to be complied with when it comes to electrical waste recycling. Basically, the issue has been left to the states to decide, and 25 states and the District of Columbia have responded by dra...

In this digital age we’re in, when there are more smartphones than people in the world, it’s been noted that technology has made all our lives better – except when it doesn’t. You might think that’s a reference to devices that malfunction from time to time. You know, we come to rely on our phones or laptops and go crazy when they stop working. But that’s not the concern here. Everything breaks down from time to time, and we either ...

Electronic hoarding of used electronics and old electronics can be a major issue and can not only clutter up your household but also harm the environment. Here's how to stop hoarding. There’s a term called digital hoarding, which is sometimes referred to as e-hoarding. Think of it as the electronic equivalent of someone who keeps a file cabinet filled to the brim with old papers -- documents and notes and files that no longer have any releva...

Given a list of places in the community that people would like to hang out at – theaters, shopping malls, local arenas – there’s one place that probably won’t turn up on anybody’s list, and that’s the community landfill. Unless you think you lost something precious and figure it’s worth your time driving over there to hunt for it, most of us assume our landfills are dirty, foul-smelling places that we’re eager to avoid. The ...

In the United States, no federal law exists mandating the takeback or recycling of e-waste, or used electronics that Americans no longer want. But that hasn’t stopped 25 states from passing legislation to regulate what happens to electronics once consumers have decided to get rid of them as they purchase newer models. Those states have recognized the problem that e-waste creates. Worldwide, there are more smartphones than there are people...

Electronics represent a booming industry -- worldwide. Consumers across the globe love their devices, from smartphones to laptops to video games and so much more. Consumer electronics are expected to post annual sales increases between $10 billion and $14 billion per year for the foreseeable future. But while the passion for electronics only seems to get stronger with each passing year, there’s also been a sharp increase in something else: h...

It’s been estimated that around the world, people generated 44.7 million metric tons of electronic waste in 2016, with the U.S. alone responsible for 6.3 million tons, or 14 percent of the world’s total. Which is why, now more than ever, it's important that there are new ways of e-waste and plastic disposal. Those are scary numbers because electronic waste has two key components. One is toxins, which when placed in community landfills can ...

There’s been a very strong push recently to promote the recycling of electronic waste, which reduces the environmental problems that can result from e-waste ending up in landfills. It’s well documented that the toxins in those electronic devices pose serious hazards to our soil and water. The process for recycling e-waste is about to get more sophisticated and less expensive, thanks to something not usually associated with electronics manu...

Community activists are constantly looking for ways to build new coalitions. That’s particularly true for environmental groups that frequently reach out to other community organizations, businesses, and municipal governments. They know that building effective coalitions is the perfect framework for engaging people to address community concerns and challenges. They also know they can achieve far more when they work together as a large, expand...