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Showing posts with label E-waste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E-waste. Show all posts
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
When rechargeable becomes disposable.
Nirvana was in sight.
Until he realized to his dismay, that the batteries were solidly held in place with glue from a hot glue gun. Foiled. While many would have stopped there, he soldiered on and tried to pull the batts out anyway. The call i got came shortly after he had accidentally cut into the batteries themselves and realized that he might end up doing more harm than good. Sonic Toothbrush - 1. John and the rest of us - 0.
Now it's obvious that the company who makes this doohicky doesn't want you opening it up, but the fact that they put it together in a way that should you break the outer shell you still can't get it apart, cheeses me even more. I'm guessing it all comes down to cost, but it seems as if they don't want you fixing anything yourself even if you know how.
Moral of the story, stick with your toothbrush and leave the rechargeables to someone else. Are rechargeables better than "disposables"? Of course, but as this goes to show, not all rechargeables are created equal. Thanks for sharing John and keep fighting the good fight. I'm gonna turn the fridge up one setting as a way to honor your quest for wasting less and a stick and dirt are in the mail as we speak to help keep those choppers strong.
Dave
Monday, September 19, 2011
Don't Throw Out Those Old Cellphones!
Dave
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Recycling For Charities
Been meaning to post this for a while now. It's an interview I did for a pretty cool company called Recycling For Charities that raises money by recycling used electronics. Check it out.
Dave
Monday, May 18, 2009
Check Out Freegeek.org
OK, so I'm a sucker for anything with the word geek in it. That said, this is a pretty cool organization with chapters all over. They take old computer systems, refurbish them, and then donate them to non-profits along with training if necessary. How cool is that. Freegeek, check them out.
Dave
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Electronic Wasteleand
Amazing piece on where our e-waste ends up from 60 minutes.
Watch CBS Videos Online
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November 15th is America Recycles Day So Bring Out Your E-Waste
Four days from now, on Nov 15th, the National Recycling Coalition will be celebrating it's 11th annual America Recycles Day, a day dedicated to moving Americans towards recycling more and buying recycled products. They have a very cool website with all sorts of resources including a Recycling 101 and a pledge that you can take to recycle more. Make sure to see what's going on in your area and join in.
There are a ton of things going on here in California, but the biggest one near me is happening in Carson and involves ASL Recycling and Nokia. We all know who Nokia is, but ASL recycling is really one of those companies that's doing pretty huge things. They were brought to my attention by a friend of mine, and are really making a difference. ASL operates hazardous waste/e-waste pickups almost every weekend here in Cali, and in an average month collects some 600 tons of e-waste, diverting it from landfills, and recycling 98% of what they collect. How amazing is that? Check out the great How We Do It function on their site, it's really fascinating and you'll notice, doesn't include shipping e-waste to Asia, which is nice. Very cool.
So come on out to a local event on the 15th, bring your e-waste, and take the pledge to recycle more!
Dave
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Got Dead Gadgets?
From A Friend.
We want dead gadget stories!
We would love to receive stories showing clearly how products simply can’t be fixed or upgraded, because of clear choices made by the product designers.
Please send your stories to Stories@deadgadgets.com and include the following information:
•Make and model
•Year they bought it. Is it under warranty?
•Why it’s dead. (Doesn’t turn on, won’t reboot, can’t upgrade it to run certain software, etc)
•Steps taken to try to fix it, or cost to fix it. (Making the call to get an estimate on what it would cost to fix it (vs replace it) is good. But actually getting the company to say they WON'T sell you a replacement part gets to the heart of the issue. So that’s an extra step, but if you could ask them to document this, it will help us tell this story. Feel free to include whom they spoke with at the companies, so there can be no question of misunderstanding.)
•Picture of the dead gadget. (Be sure we can see the manufacturer name or logo!) For our dead gadget gallery (soon to come).
This request includes broken TELEVISIONS, not just computer-type devices.
Dave
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Secret Life Of Cell Phones
Here's a cool little video about recycling cell phones from the site Secret Life.
Again, I can't help but think that part of the answer is to offer a significant return on investment if you were to turn your old cell phone in when buying a new one, but of course, convincing folks they don't need a new one in the first place would do that one better. Anyway, worth the four minutes it takes to check it out.
Live Sustainably
Dave
Monday, January 21, 2008
My laptop monitor
While I was away last week, I dropped my trusty Ibook off to the mac store as the monitor had been having some problems. I put a letter in with it explaining what i was up to re;garbage, and asked if they would send me that parts they were going to have to discard. The good news is my mac is back and I have a new monitor (gotta love Applecare) but unfortunately I cam up snake eyes on the parts part.
As anyone who read last months National Geographic article on e-waste knows, we've got a huge problem with all these high tech gizmos that we use that as we speak are already obsolescent simply by the fat that we have already bought them and they are working on the next version that we will all "need". "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 30 to 40 million PCs will be ready for "end-of-life management" in each of the next few years." It's shocking and the article is worth the read.
So i was talking this over with my Dad the other day and he brought up the point that supposedly by 2009, all tv signals will go HD requiring everyone who has a "normal" television to either learn to read (heaven forbid) or pony up some bucks and buy a new HD set. Seeing as there will be no use for the old sets int his country, I can only assume that most will end up in third world countries where kids will melt them down in order to get money for the metals they contain. And what is this all going to be for? So that we can see the acne on teeny bopper actors faces more clearly? I don't mean to rant, but doesn't this strike everyone as a bit nuts? I mean I can see having HD and those who want it getting it, but requiring everyone? Don't we own the airwaves? And wasn't the big thing about cable that we were paying for it so there would be no commercials?
....wait a minute, I was on waste...oh yeah, sorry about that.
Anyway, I was thinking about this and it seems to me that if these companies are going to make these things with planned obsolescence in mind, shouldn't they have to deal with them down the road as well? I mean I was always told "you make your bed you lay in it" right? So here's my thought. Why not add on a $50 charge to each set sold and it can be redeemed at any store that sells that brand when you turn it in. Then it would be up to the companies to deal with these things in a responsible manner. I know I'm naive and there are huge holes in the theory, but if they are going to make them, shouldn't they have to see them through to a proper end?
On a lighter note, my friend Matt who has never owned a TV is all incensed because now he's going to be forced to NOT buy an HD TV which seems like a lot more work than not buying a normal one.
My two cents.
Dave
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Give Your old Cell Phone New Life
Cindy B sent in a link to ReCellular, a company here in the states that takes old cell phones, refurbishes them and gives a great deal of money to charity all at the same time. I can't vouch for these guys but their mission statement is dead on and they have won a heap of environmental awards from places like the EPA and the National Recycling Coalition. E-waste, specifically from cell phones which have a HUGE turnover rate, is a major problem. It looks like these folks are offering at least a partial solution. The real solution is don't get a new cell phone every year, but if you need to, at least this is a better alternative to chucking it. While I think of it, another thing to do if you have an old cell and car charger you don't need is to keep them in the glove box of your car. Even out of service cells are required to work for 911, so it's a good emergency tool to have in there.
Dave
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