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Are you among the people who store their electronics after they are no longer of use or do you sell them or simply throw them? Let me tell you one thing whatever you do with your electronic waste, never throw them away.
Why You Should Not Dump Your E-waste?
Electronic waste or e-waste can be harmful to both you and your environment because it does not decompose in the soil and thus can be hazardous. The electronics mainly contain lead, chromium, cadmium, bromine, and radium.
These constituents are flammable and radioactive. Their leakage or improper decomposition can cause damage to humans, animals as well as plants.
In humans, it can cause damage to the eye, kidney and nervous system. Prolonged exposure to these harmful by-products of electronic waste can lead to chronic diseases that have an impact for generations.
When electronics are dumped carelessly in the ground, the toxins stored in them leak into the ground. These heavy metals are not absorbed completely into the soil, so some of it seeps down into the groundwater while the rest of it vaporizes.
Now imagine all this adding up to the water cycle and affecting our ecosystem. To stop all this, we need effective methods for both scrap metal collection and scrap metal recycling.
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Recycling of Electronic Waste
There are many environment-friendly ways to get rid of electronic wastes. But first, we need to understand what electronic waste is? Simply put electronic waste comprises old or unused technology. This includes our gadgets, electronic appliances, cables, CFL lights and so on.
The amount of electronic waste is constantly increasing and the problem is that the majority of us do not know how to treat it.
One thing that all of us should understand is that electronic waste materials are not be thrown in the trashcans with regular waste.
We need to learn to reuse. If you have an old monitor in your house use it as a secondary or virtual screen for your laptop.
Or if you have an unused television, connect it to your PC and enjoy a larger screen. But we understand that old electronics need to be disposed of after a point. Then how do we do so?
Sell It Off:
Almost all the states have centers that are into scrap metal collection specifically electronic wastes. They then follow safe procedures in large industries for scrap metal recycling. Some areas also have the service of getting this electronic waste picked up from their doorstep.
Some companies are into scrap metal collection for free while others will offer you a cash incentive. In either case, you will get rid of your electronic waste items, what else do you need!
Return-It to the Company:
If you have brought a new phone why keep the older phone. Simply sell it! Many companies run exchange programs where they are into scrap metal collection.
They specifically accept old phones from any company and give you your new one instead. This will also help you get a discount on your new technology.
Donating Old Technology:
If you have upgraded to the newer technology why not donate the older tech? If the tech is still in a working condition give it to people who would actually need it or someone who would appreciate this help, like NGOs or needy students.
By doing this you would be helping the society twice – once by saving the environment from electronic waste and secondly by helping others.
Before you recycle your old technology by any method make sure you erase all the personal information it has. If the device is in an accessible condition your data might be leaked and the information can be used against you.
Also, store all your electronic waste away from the reach of your children and pets. The electronic waste should not be stored with any other old goods. This is because as the electronics age their batteries start to weary out and leak. This leaked liquid is poisonous and can be fatal if ingested.
