With an enormous amount of publicity for “going green,” it is amazing the amount of people who do not. According to Earth911.com, only 23% of Americans recycle their old electronics. People are taking steps every day in order to preserve our environment. Luckily, even big corporations are helping as well. Sam’s Club and Office Depot are offering the public the ability to trade in iPods, Zunes, gaming systems, printers, and digital cameras for gift cards. Once the electronics are traded in, they are recycled properly or broken down for parts.
Batteries such as those in computers and other electronics are very harmful for the environment if not disposed of correctly. The chemicals in the batteries soak into the ground, eventually ending up in the water systems.
The website Econewonline.com allows you to pick what items you would recycle, and it will give you an estimate value of how much money you could receive in the form of a gift card.
Instead of letting broken iPods sit around, or get thrown away, you could use the money on the gift card to buy a new one. It is even possible to get over $100 for an old gaming system. If items are not worth any money, the companies can still recycle them for free.
The stores will even take broken items in exchange for the cards.
By Kelsie Meier, editor-in-chief
