Most of the time a trip to the ATM means draining money from your bank account, but if it’s a visit to the newly debuted EcoATM that you’re planning, you could actually end up with more money to your name. The EcoATM doesn’t withdraw cash but instead accepts used cellphones (we’ve all got one in a drawer somewhere), assesses their secondary market value, and offers up gift cards, trade-ups or charitable donations for the device.

The idea isn’t so different from the take back programs that are now being offered at some major electronics retail stores like Best Buy, but EcoATM hopes that the convenience of being able to visit a machine, get a quick estimate on value, and receive tangible rewards for the effort will convince more consumers to recycle their cellphones. And if they’re successful, the positive environmental effect could be huge; more than 100 million cellphones are thrown away in the United States every year and they leach toxic chemicals into landfills. Worse yet, the components that need to mined to make cellphones are wasted, instead of being reused by manufacturers who can avoid further mining—a problem EcoATM could be instrumental in solving. Click here to read more

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The digital TV switch is over, but its aftermath may just be beginning. We’re not talking about waves of confused television owners uncertain about how to get their old TVs working on the new system (although there’s bound to be those too) but an influx of old Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) televisions headed for landfills and for “recycling” in foreign countries.

While the high percentage of television owners who have already switched to digital televisions would indicate that the e-waste from old televisions won’t increase, some experts are worried that the opposite is true. Many people, they suggest, have kept their old CRT televisions despite purchasing newer sets (either with the hope that they’d give them away or need them again for another room or household member), but the digital switch will cement the idea that CRT televisions are no longer of much use and lead owners to finally rid themselves of the bulky boxes. Those who have not yet switched to digital TVs are likely to do so in the next year or two as high definition channels—which are not viewable even with converter boxes—become more available.

A large amount of CRTs headed for landfills could pose a real threat, as the sets contain large amounts of cadmium, lead, and the toxic chemicals that make the televisions flame resistant. But because of the uncertainty about where and how to recycle televisions, landfills are often the only places owners know to take TVs. Recent findings that suggest some government-initiated television recycling programs result in e-waste being shipped to foreign countries for unsafe disassembly add to consumer confusion. Click here to read more

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The amount of e-waste being created worldwide has been skyrocketing over the last few years as electronics are upgraded at an ever increasing rate, resulting in potential health problems for people and the planet. Most e-waste contains numerous toxic components and dangerous substances that prevent it from being easily recyclable. Still, Americans are realizing that all the electronic waste can’t just be buried in landfills, where it will leach the harmful elements into the ground (and water streams), and the worries have led some electronics manufacturers to establish e-waste recycling programs. Unfortunately, some of these programs do little more than mislead consumers and move our e-waste from local landfills to overseas locations. Several companies have been exposed for shipping the e-waste from their recycling programs to developing countries, where underpaid workers dismantle the waste in unsafe conditions, looking for salvageable pieces, while polluting the environment and risking their health at the same time.

To avoid such situations and to demonstrate to consumers the commitment Dell has to environmental issues, Dell has established a company-wide policy on e-waste. The new policy bans the export of any non-working Dell electronics to developing countries and sets out standards that are stricter than most of the electronics industry. Click here to read more

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