Take My TV - Please! Resources on E-Recycling

A sorely needed upgrade has come into my life, or more specifically my living room: an early Christmas present in the form of a brand spanking new TV. It's not so much a "need," I suppose, but it definitely is a welcome change to the now green and purple fringed tube I purchased in 2003. And though I've never been one to get overexcited about gadgets and gizmos with glowing screens, I actually spent a good deal of time figuring out what to do with my klunker of a set: it technically still functions, but who would want a TV with a non-optional psychedelic filter applied to all programming? What to do?!

So, I took to the interwebs to find out just that, thinking I would manage to find information about the e-waste drop-off that I remember happening in New York's Union Square. Sadly, I discovered Fall 2008 was the last time funding supported this event, even though 206 tons of electronics and 1,009 pounds of cell phones for recycling were collected at that time. And, I know I'm not alone in wondering what to do with this mammoth piece of outdated and slightly worse-for-wear technology as a New York Times' article from this summer cites that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates 99.1 million televisions sit unused in closets and basements across the country. Besides the easy way of ridding myself of the old TV - the trash, which is a legal method to do so in New York City until July 2010 - I figured there must be another alternative. And there is. But generally for a price.

There seems to be a good number of pick-up services for such dilemmas, but most of them cater to larger quantities of refuse for a decent sized service charge. As a city gal on a budget, these options seem down right extravagant for a single, almost dead, and definitely outdated TV. According to the same Times' article, there is movement to push the manufacturers to take responsibility for this enormous technological turn over, and even provide pick-up services for New York City apartment buildings. Many manufacturers greet this imposed responsibility with resistance, but there are a handful that are taking initiative to process this e-waste, such big names as Sony, Apple, IBM, and some which offer free take-back options, like Dell, or trade-in value, like Samsung.

Seeing that my manufacturer is now defunct, I luckily found other resources, many of them big name distributors, that provide more feasible take-back options for numerous types of electronics. Nationally recognized names, like Staples, Office Depot, Costco and Best Buy, and some New York specific ones, like P.C. Richard & Son and the Mac Support Store in Brooklyn, will take back your unwanted electronics for a nominal fee, sometimes with a few restrictions (2 items accepted per household per day, or trade-ins only accepted with a store purchase, for example), and even in some cases, for free.

A few organizations have already noticed this e-recycle need and provide excellent suggestions and online drop-off locators. And with a documented need for such services (99.1 MILLION television sets...just sitting there...in the US alone!) it seems consumers can continue to push this cause instead of simply turning to the trash first. One such organization, Take Back My TV, noted a "an e-waste tsunami" after the digital TV conversion took place this past summer. One can only assume that I'm not the only getting a gifted technological upgrade this holiday season. So instead of contributing to another wave of e-junk, consult these fine resources before you take your past-due electronics to the curb.

E-waste recycling guides, recycling locations, and more:
Electronics TakeBack Coalition
Take Back My TV
Reconnect Partnership

Article sources:
New York Times' "A Green Way to Dump Low-Electronic Devices"
NYC Gov's web pages on recycling, previous DSNY electronic recycling events, and the current status of those events