Wait! Can I Throw This Away?
During all our decluttering projects, Lyn’s Daughter always makes sure that e-Waste is in its own special pile that gets taken to an appropriate recycling and disposal center. Why? Because electronics are a toxic addition to our landfills, posing serious environmental risks.
What is e-waste?
E-waste (electronic waste) generally refers to anything with plugs, cords and electronic components that is at, or near, the end of its useful life. Common sources of e-waste include televisions, computers, mobile phones and any type of home appliance, from air conditioners to children's toys.
Why is e-waste a problem?
For one thing, e-waste hides toxic materials. While above ground, modern electronics are safe to use and be around. However, most electronics contain some form of toxic materials, including beryllium, cadmium, mercury, and lead, which pose serious environmental risks to our soil, water, air, and wildlife.
But when e-waste gets buried at a landfill, it can dissolve in microscopic traces into the gross sludge that permeates at the landfill. Eventually, these traces of toxic materials pool into the ground below the landfill. This is known as leaching.
The more e-waste and metals at the landfill, the more of these trace toxic materials show up in the groundwater.
How You Can Help
Fortunately, there’s a proven solution. The recycling of e-waste serves a lot of useful purposes. Examples include:
Protecting human and environmental health by keeping those devices out of landfills.
Recovering the parts within the devices that still have value, and providing manufacturers with recycled metals that can be used to make new products.
Virtually all electronic waste contains some form of recyclable material. That includes materials like plastic, glass, and metals, which is why they may be considered “junk” or “obsolete” to consumers but still serve an essential purpose. It’s ironic, in some ways, that these devices are called “e-waste,” since they’re not waste at all. But in far too many instances, they are thrown away.
The Butler County Recycling & Solid Waste District is a great resource for recycling information in the Oxford area … including:
DO NOT THROW BATTERIES IN TRASH!
Placing batteries – specifically lithium ion batteries – in your recycling and trash containers causes a dangerous situation.
In the back of a garbage truck, compactors crunch and smash garbage together, often causing hazardous items to combust and result in fire. Even the smallest hazardous item, like a battery, can be a major safety concern for the employee who is driving the truck to the landfill. To keep employees and the environment safe, hazardous wastes should be kept out of the garbage.
When batteries break, they spark fires, putting people – employees and the motoring public – unnecessarily at risk.
Don't place batteries in your trash or recycling containers. In Oxford, you can take them to Moon Co-Op. The good people there have a bin just inside the doors on your left by the cash registers.
How many old electronic items are stuffed in YOUR drawers at home?
(We had six iPhones, three e-Readers, and an ancient iPod.)
