Recycling is one of the more popular methods to reduce our environmental impact, but it alone is not enough to substantially influence one’s carbon footprint. R2 Recycling explains how reducing and reusing, along with recycling, electronics can seriously ease your impact on the Earth and minimize the amount of waste lining landfills.
Recycling of Electronics
All but 12.5 percent of electronic users recycle their electronic goods, which means a staggering percentage of people are merely throwing out their old electronics along with the valuable building materials they’re made of . Some of the reasons people chose not to recycle their electronics include the extra effort to drop it off with a credited electronic recycler and the associated costs with doing so. For larger pieces of equipment, transportation fees may also apply which definitely has an impact on people’s willingness to recycle their goods.
Advantages of Recycling E-Waste?
Waste of any sort should be recycled if it is feasible and safe to do so. Innovative processes for electronic recycling has allowed us to remove more valuable materials from old electronics than ever before. By recycling your e-waste, not only will you be reducing your personal carbon footprint, but you will also be reducing the impact globally by allowing another product to be built using recycled materials. Recycling lessens the amount of fossil fuels needed to extract and refine building materials by reducing the need to mine precious metals.
With expensive metals like gold, copper, and palladium present in electronics, there is a demand to have these materials readily available. This can be achieved through streamlining its availability through e-waste recycling according to R2 Recycling.
Reusing Old Electronics
With new technology coming out at a rapid fire speed, the tech that we are throwing away tends to still have some life in it when we get our hands on the newest and greatest edition. Even if it seems obsolete or redundant to you, others might benefit from it.
Consider donating used, but still active, software to a not-for-profit organization so that they may pass it along to someone in need who would be more than happy with an older model. Computers and cell phones are always in hot demand for donations (or even sold cheap), so that technology can be shared with as many people as possible.
The Tech Industry: Profit > Sustainability
Reusing technology in the corporate eye reduces the bottom line for many large tech companies. If people are content with having an older model, they are less likely to go out and purchase a costly upgrade every year.
To combat this, tech companies often make repairs very costly as they need to be brought back to their original maker as the specific tools to fix the hard-or software aren’t sold to the regular person. One way around this is to take damaged goods to a specialty repair shop where they will be able to fix superficial issues.
Reducing New Purchases
Reducing the amount of new technology we are buying on the regular will most definitely help save our plant. By changing one’s shopping habits so that we use what we have until it can’t be used any more, we are ensuring that we are going through every bit of energy that went into building it before purchasing a new source. After all has been drained of our electronics, we can safely recycle them so that the building materials, like metals and plastics, can be reused to build something new.
Moving Forward
As with most goods, recycling your old technology is an excellent way to ensure you are doing a part in creating a sustainable environment. Before you decide to recycle, ask yourself if this electronic has given all it has to offer. Ensuring that you are using its maximum capabilities through reusing or reducing the amount of new tech you consume will effectively reduce your carbon footprint. R2 Recycling is here to help with your reduce, reuse, recycle goals, whether that means organizing a time to pick up old electronics or creating a designated drop off spot.
