The invention of technology and modern electronic gadgets has made life easier for the average American. However, it has also led to the generation of more E-waste, which contributes to environmental pollution.
In this article, Fast Act Junk Removal, a leading junk removal company in Niles, Michigan, shares tips on how to safely and sustainably dispose of your home and office electronic waste.
What is E-Waste?
E-waste or electronic waste is any electronic item or gadget that is no longer useful. They are electronic products that you no longer need because they have outlived their usefulness or are spoilt beyond repair.
An average American consumes a fair amount of electronic products and directly or indirectly contributes to environmental pollution. When you get a new computer or phone and toss the old one into the bin because they are outdated or no longer functioning well, these items will be dumped in the landfill, where they will degenerate and release harmful substances into the atmosphere, leading to environmental pollution.
Unlike food waste or garbage, e-waste is dangerous to the environment and human health because it contains hazardous chemicals. These chemicals can contaminate the soil, pollute the air and water sources. Also, some of the chemicals in electronic wastes, such as lead or cadmium, are cancer-causing.
As technology improves, more and more electronic devices are being produced, and the lifespan of these items is becoming shorter, making it more urgent to find a sustainable means of disposing of these items to prevent environmental pollution and promote a safe and healthy environment.
What Are Common Types of E-waste?
Electronic wastes are generated daily and everywhere, including your homes, office, store, factory, schools, and even hospitals. Common types of electronic waste include the following;
1. Household Appliance
These include all electronic items, large and small, that you use in the home, such as refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, electric cookers, electronic fans, air conditioners, heaters, hair dryers, and radiators.
2. Office Electronics
These are electronic items that are used for day-to-day office activities. They include printers, copiers, fax machines, telephones, typewriters, monitors, IT server racks, and Wifi dongles.
3. Telecommunication Equipment
These electronic products aid easy communication between people and interaction with the world. They are used in homes and offices, and they include items such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, smart watches, hard drives, monitors, and computer keyboards.
4. Electronic Toys
Gone are those days when kids played with plastic dolls and toys. Now there are electronic items made for kids' entertainment, and they include talking stuffed animals, robots, drones, electrical keyboards and pianos, game tables, and laser guns.
5. Sport Equipment
These are equipment created to make sporting activities more fun, easier, and more productive. Examples include sensor-equipped basket basketballs, self-inflating paddle boards, electronic bikes, smart golf swings, and electronic golf gloves.
6. Medical Equipment
These electronic items allow medical practitioners to carry out their jobs smoothly and serve their patients better. They include dialysis machines, imaging equipment, ventilator, infusion pump, anesthetics machine, oxygen concentrators, pulse oximeters, heart monitors, and oxygen masks.
7. Electronic Utilities
These are utility items that families and individuals use to make themselves feel better. They include electronic chairs, heating pads, smart lights, smart curtains, remote controls, massage chairs, and treadmills.
8. Entertainment Devices
These are devices created for pleasure and entertainment purposes. Adults and kids use them, and they can be used at home and in the offices. These include items such as DVD players, television, stereos, video games, and Blu-ray players.
All the items listed above are very useful devices, and using them will make your life simpler and more productive. However, how you dispose of them when they are no longer useful plays a vital role in the safety of the environment, which is why it is crucial to adopt safe disposal methods like recycling to reduce depletion and keep the environment safe.
Why is it Important to Safely Dispose of Electronic Waste?
As stated earlier, electronic waste contains hazardous chemicals that are unsafe for people and the environment, so it is vital to safely dispose of them to promote a safe environment. Other reasons you should safely dispose of your old electrical items include the following:
1. It promotes Your Safety
Most people think that the lifespan of their electronic items ends when they toss them in the bin, but that is not true. Your old gadgets like computers and smartphones might hold sensitive information you don’t want in the wrong hands.
But throwing them in trash cans to be taken away increases the chances of them ending up with the wrong person. Disposing of your old gadget safely by taking them to a recycling center helps to promote your informational safety and ensure that your data is safe.
2. It Is Your Duty to the EcoSystem
As a citizen of the world, it is your duty to protect the environment and avoid doing anything that will compromise the quality of natural resources.
When you dump your spoiled electronic items in the landfill, they will degenerate and release harmful chemicals that can contaminate water, soil, and even the air we breathe and make them detrimental to humans and plants.
By safely disposing of your E-waste, you are playing your part in promoting a safe environment for you, your neighbors, and everyone in the world.
3. It Is Easier Now
Gone are those days when recycling your waste was a long and discouraging process. With many options available, safely disposing of your electronic waste is now easy and less stressful.
If you don’t want to go through the stress of recycling your waste, there are other easily accessible options for sustainable waste disposal. Some communities will even offer incentives like coupon codes when you recycle your waste, making it easier, better, and more rewarding.
How to Sustainably Dispose of Electronics Properly and Safely
One of the advantages of electronic items is that there are a few ways to dispose of them, giving you different options to choose from. Some of the ways to dispose of your E-waste include the following:
1. Reuse Your Old Electronics
Before recycling your old electronic items or throwing them away, determine if they are totally useless or still reusable. If the items are still repairable, you should repair them and use them for a longer time rather than disposing of them.
Even if they are not useful for you, there are some of your friends or other people in your community who would still find them useful.
Repairing your gadget, especially phones and tabs, and increasing their lifespan will save you money on replacement and reduce the total number of E-waste going to the landfills every year. For example, research shows that if everyone extends their phones’ lifespan by just one year, the number of phone waste can reduce by 25%.
2. Donate
If you really have to replace your old gadget or appliances like fans, phones, microwaves, or stereos, you can give them out or donate them to charity so that people who need them can enjoy them.
There are certain charity organizations that specialize in collecting old, repairable electronics, repairing them, and giving them to people in need. You can find any of these organizations closest to you and donate your gadget to them.
However, before donating your old phones or gadgets, ensure that you remove all your personal information.
3. Sell Your Old Electronic Items
Remember the old saying, ” One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”? Well, it applies to everything, including replacing your electronics. If your old appliances are in fair condition, but you need to replace them for certain reasons, you can sell them off.
There are people who need these appliances but cannot afford to buy them because of their high price. These people will be willing to buy old appliances at low prices. You can sell your electronics online through E-markets such as Ebay or Craigslist. Or you can team up with your friends and neighbors and hold a garage sale.
4. Return to Your Electronic Shop
Some electronic companies have a return policy. They will accept your old gadget and offer you discounts when you shop for a replacement. While some of these companies don’t accept items that are at the end of their lifecycle, others do. Find an electric shop that is willing to accept your old gadget in its condition and take it there.
5. Take it to a Hazardous Waste Center
There are certain waste centers that are designated for hazardous waste, like old electronic gadgets and appliances. When you take your items to these centers, they will carefully disassemble them and destroy them in a way that isn’t harmful to you or the environment.
6. Recycle Your Old Electronics
This is the old, common method of waste disposal that everyone is familiar with. If everything else fails, locate a recycling center in your community and take your electronic waste there for recycling.
Different states have specific laws and regulations guiding recycling. Get familiar with the recycling regulations in your community and ensure to follow them strictly.
Before taking your items to the recycling center, ensure to remove their batteries, as they will be recycled separately. Keep broken parts in zip lock bags to prevent dangerous materials or liquid from leaking. Remember to wear gloves when handling your electronic waste to avoid exposing yourself to danger.
You can check online to find recycling centers near you or ask your friends and neighbors. You can also ask your local waste management company for information on recycling centers in your community.
Benefits of Recycling Your Electronic Wastes
If you are wondering if it is worth it to go through the extra length to dispose of your electronic waste safely when you can just dump them in the landfill, the answer is yes; it is totally worth it. There are many benefits of recycling your old electronic waste, and they include the following;
1. It Helps to Conserve Natural Resources
Electronic products contain fair amounts of natural resources like copper, aluminum, glass, and plastics. By recycling your old gadgets and appliances, These natural resources can be reclaimed and used for producing new items. This will help protect natural resources by reducing the amount of these resources being extracted.
2. It Helps to Create Job Opportunities
You might not realize this, but by choosing to recycle your old electronics, you are contributing to job opportunities and helping to put food on some families' tables. As the consumption of electronic items increases, more recycling plants are being created in the country, and more specialists are hired to run these plants.
3. It Increases Affordability
Selling your old electronic items that are still in good condition at lower prices allows people who cannot afford these items when they are new to be able to own them too. Even when you recycle your old, unusable items, the materials obtained from these items can be used to produce less expensive gadgets and appliances that will be affordable for everyone.
4. It Reduces Water Pollution
Electronic waste in landfills releases harmful chemicals into the ground. As time goes on, these chemicals will find their way into wells and water bodies and contaminate them. Once these waters are contaminated, they become harmful to humans and animals. By safely disposing of your electronic wastes, you can prevent harmful chemicals from contaminating water bodies and, by extension, protect the aqua animals and humans that depend on such water for survival.
5. It Reduces Air pollution
Recycling your e-waste or choosing any other safe means will protect the environment from air pollution by preventing toxins from being released into the atmosphere. Also, mining activities release a high amount of dust and harmful substances into the environment.
6. It helps to Promote Conscious Consumerism
As more people continue to recycle their e-waste and dispose of them safely, it will help to create more awareness for the mindful use of these electronic gadgets. With more awareness, more people can be exposed to the dangers of irresponsible throw-aways, the need for conscious consumerism, and the need to preserve the environment and natural resources. Rather than throwing old electronics away carelessly, more people can start reusing or disposing of their items safely, contributing to a safe ecosystem.
How to Prepare Your Electronics for Disposal
Now that you understand the need to sustainably dispose of your electronics and how the different ways you can do so, it is essential to know that there are certain steps you must take before you dispose of your old gadgets, and they include the following;
1. Assess the Situation
When your laptop or phone stops working, before deciding to throw it away, take a minute to assess the situation and determine its condition. Is it repairable or reusable? Can you donate it? Is it sellable, or is it due for recycling? Accessing the item will help you to decide on the best line of action.
2. Understand the Laws
Different states have specific rules for disposing of electronic waste. You want to be familiar with your community's e-waste disposal and recycling rules to avoid getting into trouble with the authorities.
3. Remove Your Data
Whatever mode of disposal you choose for your e-waste, whether you want to resell or recycle, ensure that you format your gadget and clear your personal or business information before you proceed to prevent your data from being in the wrong hands.
4. Locate the Closest Centers to You
When your gadgets are properly formatted and cleared, you can now proceed to dispose of them. If you are recycling them, check online for the recycling centers in your community. Likewise, if you want to donate or resell, you can check online or ask around for charity centers or second-hand markets that accept electronics.
Conclusion
It might be tempting to just toss your old electronics into the bin when they stop working. But while this is an easier way of disposing of your e-wastes, it is unsafe for you, your neighbors, and the ecosystem. This is why you must dispose of your old electronics through safe, sustainable methods.
If you need help on how to dispose of your electronic waste in Niles, Michigan, you can speak to Fast Act Junk Removal and Dumpster Services. Although they don’t accept hazardous wastes, they will happily walk you through the process of safely disposing of your e-waste.
About Fast Act Junk Removal
Fast Act Junk Removal and Dumpster Service is a leading junk removal service in Southwest Michigan. It is a family-owned and operated junk management company committed to providing smooth, efficient, and affordable junk removal services for residential and commercial customers in Indiana and Michigan.
At Fast Act Junk Removal, you can enjoy affordable and efficient junk removal and dumpster rental services, with excellent customer service from polite and professional junk haulers.
For more information about their services, contact Fast Act Junk Removal at 269-808-1170 or visit their website.
