Talking High-Tech Trash

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National Geographic's new feature on High Tech Trash gives readers an up-close look at the international e-waste trade, where unwanted computers and monitors are exported to countries where they are dismantled and discarded under oftentimes appalling conditions by people (many of them children and teenagers) with little or no equipment to protect them from the toxic byproducts.

In the United States, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of discarded computers and monitors, and well over 80 percent of TVs, eventually end up in landfills, despite a growing number of state laws that prohibit dumping of e-waste, which may leak lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, and other toxics into the ground. Meanwhile, a staggering volume of unused electronic gear sits in storage — about 180 million TVs, desktop PCs, and other components as of 2005, according to the EPA. Even if this obsolete equipment remains in attics and basements indefinitely, never reaching a landfill, this solution has its own, indirect impact on the environment. In addition to toxics, e-waste contains goodly amounts of silver, gold, and other valuable metals that are highly efficient conductors of electricity. In theory, recycling gold from old computer motherboards is far more efficient and less environmentally destructive than ripping it from the earth, often by surface-mining that imperils pristine rain forests.

Currently, less than 20 percent of e-waste entering the solid waste stream is channeled through companies that advertise themselves as recyclers, though the number is likely to rise as states like California crack down on landfill dumping. Yet recycling, under the current system, is less benign than it sounds. Dropping your old electronic gear off with a recycling company or at a municipal collection point does not guarantee that it will be safely disposed of. While some recyclers process the material with an eye toward minimizing pollution and health risks, many more sell it to brokers who ship it to the developing world, where environmental enforcement is weak. For people in countries on the front end of this arrangement, it's a handy out-of-sight, out-of-mind solution.

Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based organization that works to end the international toxics trade and which was interviewed in National Geographic's article, has begun an e-Stewards Initiative to help people find responsible electronics recyclers in their area. Check out its Rethink Initiative — in partnership in eBay — which "makes it easy — and even profitable — to find new users for idle computers and electronics, and responsibly recycle unwanted products."

TechSoup has also launched its own Recycled Computer Initiative, where nonprofits can find high-quality refurbished computers at a discount. If you are looking to donate a computer, the list of Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers can help you find a responsible refurbisher nearby.