There is a real fact in the matter of electronics: Once they are used they get obsolete and supposedly recycled which is not true. Electronics cannot be recycled. They may be repaired, re-used but never recycled. So, would you like to have a new Pentium II again? I have read an interesting article from Green-Talk dot com where they show an interesting video about the ugly side of recycling electronics. I even made a pair of comments there. Worth reading. However, this all our fault. We consumer demand more and more. In 10 years our less this computers we are using now will be obsolete.

This was really timely for me. I recently broke my cell phone [1] and need to find a replacement. I'm either going to get a refurbished phone or buy a used one from Craigslist. Sprint and AT&T have refurbished phones available. Other carriers probably do, too! [1] ...after dropping it dozens of times over 5 years, and once leaving it a snowbank for a week! I hope my next phone lasts like that one did! I called it "the beast".

In the US, electronics recycling is done by prisoners under unsafe conditions: Inmates and employees at 10 federal prisons were exposed to toxic metals and other hazardous substances while processing electronic waste for recycling, a four-year investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general found. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/science/earth/27waste.html

Great! Glad you had the chance to meet the filmmaker. I can't wait to see the film either! I was born and raised in Rio, so I'm anticipating that Wasteland will touch me deeply.

@Marisa, I actually met the Wasteland filmmaker when I was at the TEDx conference in L.A. Can't wait to see it!

Hi Beth, Just wondering if you've heard of this film: http://www.wastelandmovie.com/index.html

I love that Annie Leonard, her videos are great. I couldn't agree more with the "buy less stuff" it really is a struggle even when I don't want to. I am more ingrained by the media than I want to admit unfortunately.

Thanks, Ivy - that's what I was going to say. We had to go buy a digital converter, which is another electronic thingummy, but it wasn't expensive and it means we're still using the TV that is i-am-not-sure-how-old (we traded one we found on the corner to a friend for one she had in her barn...back in 2002. I think the TV is from about 1995? It is decidedly not High Def) During the transition PBS ran public service announcements showing a digital converter running new programming on a black and white set from the '50s. Thanks everyone for the various links - I am nearly to the point of replacing my cell phone (which I got used a couple years ago) and looking for a less-awful source to get one. I hate to buy used because so many are stolen and my friends have all switched to smartphones with expensive data plans, so I can't count on another hand-me-down.

It also helps to research and be informed--Rob commented and mentioned the "HD" rules, which I'm afraid to say, aren't accurate. The TV signal switched to digital, NOT HD. Most TVs did work on digital--mine was from the early 1990s and it would have been fine. Even if you had a TV older than that, you could get a converter to make it work; really it mostly affected those using an antennae. You did NOT need to buy a new TV. However, if you went to a store they would try to tell you that it was a switch to HD and you needed an HD TV. This was simply not true and a way for them to try to upsell you and make money. Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't understand the issue that was actually happening and believed the sales pitch.

I think it's time to call for a longevity/durability tax on consumer products. Short lived/ breakable/ non- repairable/fashionable stuff should have a big eco-tax on it - the proceeds are used to "anti-tax" long-lived, repairable, recyclable classic products thereby making them cheaper despite the increased engineering necessary for durability

Yay - it's been released. We've been waiting for this one.

We're nursing along my husband's 6 1/2 year-old laptop -- certainly not the fastest, fanciest thing in the world, but functional for our needs at this point. We're also considering a digital kitchen scale for more precise and accurate measurements when baking, though I'm not convinced it's necessary. We're made it this long without one! Beth -- Don't be afraid of Apple/Mac. Fortunately, I had to learn my way around an Apple in my last job. I don't know how they used to be, but they're very user-friendly these days. If it's in our budget, I plan to get an Apple when our laptop finally breathes its last.

Been on this wavelength all my life. We need to realize that this will only happen when companies are required by law to make repairable/recyclable products. The government can and should require standardization -- making those chargers work with any device, for example. How many people realize that we would never have had television if the government did not impose the standard? Sadly, any such law is labeled as "regulation" (once upon a time recognized as necessary). And far too many politicians (read: Republicans) after years of gutting regulations, want even less, not more, so that their rich friends in business can get richer, easier. Sure, regulations are a pain, but so is any damn law. Sorry, depending on consumers to just "do the right thing" will NOT get us there. We've been through this long enough now to understand that the vast majority of consumers put price above public policy when purchasing.

Learning so much. I wonder if we could make owning a re-pairable computer "cool", then the cost wouldn't be such a thing. Somehow, many would find a way to afford it.

Electronics are quite reliable and the part that causes a problem is usually easy to clean or fix. In the case of DVD players, well over half that go to a landfill can be opened and cleaned to working order within 10 inexperienced minutes. Most Americans don't believe they can repair anything themselves--they're wrong but will never know it.

Our strategy - don't buy it. We don't have a flat screen TV, iPhones, blue ray DVD player, tivo or any of that junk. My laptop is now four years old, and it was bought secondhand. I used to use Palm Pilots years ago, then switched back to a good, old-fashioned paper diary - easy to recycle - I just shove it on the compost at the end of the year! Truth is, we don't need all the rubbish that is dumped at us. If you didn't need it ten years ago, do you really need it now? Probably not. It's just another money-sucking debt-maker, cluttering up your life and trashing the planet. Yep, I'm old fashioned. But I'd prefer to teach my kids wise decision-making rather than mindless consumption. As they grow older, I hope they'll learn to question their purchases sensibly, rather than buying the latest simply because some advertising tells them they'll be cool if they have it.

Go Annie! We are past of era of allowing companies to profit by polluting. This practice must end and we (all of us with any amount of awareness) must be responsible for ending it.

In highschool my teacher tought us how to repair things, I remember taking iron apart and fixing it before I graduated.(over 20years ago in Ukraine).. The iron we have now (Canada) - if it breaks - there is no way of fixing it. I still think fondly about TV's when I was growing up, if it stops working - hit it on the top couple of times, if that does not work - call repair man. I am amazed at how fast technology is changing... how can one keep up with all the new "I"things? We still have old RCA analog? TV with rabbit antena, simple cell phones, my five year old laptop (which I consider to be new) and we are living just fine. Love reading your blog and learning from you.

@Condo Blues -- I actually do need a laptop to carry with me to events. A desktop computer would be very difficult to put in my suitcase. @Rebecca -- I'm a PC. Mac scares me. Maybe it's because I'm an accountant in my other life. I'm not as cool as I look. LOL! @Judy -- Wow! Thanks for all the information! I'm going to look into a Redemtech computer. @Rob -- That's why I try not to set foot in Costco. I just watched an early episode of Modern Family last night that was all about the allure of Costco. I can relate. But also, I find Costco so overwhelming (sensory overload) that in the past I have been known to fill up a cart and then leave it in the middle of the floor and walk out. @Amber - Absolutely! Which is why my #1 step is Buy Less New Stuff. That wasn't from the web site; it was from my own opinionated brain. And also, maybe if we spent more for quality, we'd save in the long run on replacements. But I know what you mean. It's really hard to resist getting an iPhone with all the bells and whistles. But will those bells and whistles really make me happier? I'm guessing not.

As an electrical engineer, I think there are two sides to this story. The first side is that electronics companies need to make more durable devices, which people can service themselves, and they also need to have a plan to deal with the end-of-life waste. The second side is the same as everything else we consume - we always want MORE and BETTER. We don't want an old computer, we want a shiny new computer. And so as consumers we are driving 'disposable' electronics. The other issue that I see, again, is not unique to electronics, and that's price. Making a durable, easily-fixed-by-regular-folks piece of equipment is more expensive. And very few people want to pay the price. We need electronics companies to step up their game. But we also need to step up ours, by not constantly upgrading, and not necessarily choosing the cheapest clock radio on the shelf.

Sigh- back in the day we had TV repair men who came to our house and fixed the TV... Now it is cheaper, and "easier" to buy a new one. And our government didn't help by making TV's unuseable (The "HD" rules) so now we have millions of unuseable TV's... what to do with them? I partly blame the consumer--- If there wasn't demand for new stuff, nobody would make it. Just the other day, I was at Costco, where I bought (a couple of years ago) My flat screen TV. 2 years later they have a much better, 3-D TV. LOL I used to think it was planned obsolescense, and now I am sure of it!

I totally agree with you about trying to extend the life of your electronic gadgets as long as possible. And buying a refurbished product can be a great way to save money and reduce the environmental impacts of electronics. Redemtech, the donor of the refurbished computer in our website give-away (check it out at: www.ceh.org/electronics) has a great statistic about the value of reuse: “Reusing just one computer saves enough energy to power a household for 8 months and reduces greenhouse gases equal to removing a car from road for 6 months.” The Center for Environmental Health's website also has some helpful questions you should ask before you buy a refurbished product. www.ceh.org/electronics (look for the questions under At home: Greener Products for your Home”. Redemtech is an e-Stewards refurbisher and recycler which means that they are committed to: No export of hazardous e-waste to developing countries, no use of prison labor, no landfill or incineration and protection of private data and worker health. You can check out their website at: http://www.redrabbitt.com/redrabbitt/Pages/AboutRefurbishedComputers.aspx. Redemtech offers name brand, business grade computers and laptops along with technical support and a limited 90 day warranty with an extended warranty available for an additional cost. There are other refurbishers out there but we suggest that you make sure they are also e-Stewards. Lots of hazardous materials are generated during refurbishment (like replacing bad mercury lamps, dead batteries, etc) so you want to make sure your refurbisher is handling that e-waste responsibly. There is a list of refurbishers called the Microsoft Registered Refurbishers available at: https://www.msregrefurb.com/RRPSite/OnlineDirectory.aspx?setlang=en This is a list of refurbishers who have signed up with the program and we mention this list, not as an endorsement of all the refurbishers on the list. but just as a place to check. I would suggest that you ask any prospective refurbishers the list of questions on our website, probably starting with “Are you an e-Steward.” If you have any questions, you can contact me at judy@ceh.org

This issue frustrates me to no end! One solution we've found is to opt out of the "bells and whistles" because then products have fewer things going wrong. Another is to opt out of electronics altogether--do I need gadgets to perform every function under the sun? Or can I be wise and selectively purchase those that multi-task. I'm looking forward to watching Annie Leonard's latest work now...she's brilliant.

This is another reason why my husb and I like to support Apple products. No they are not perfect, but over the last few years have taken great strides to make their products more recyclable especially in using aluminum cases. Other than the circuit boards, which have their own issues with chemicals, the aluminum, glass and other metals can be completely recycled.

Have you considered having someone build you a computer to your specs? My Husband and I work in IT and built our first computer as a professional development exercise. Once we realized that we could each have a machine to our personal and professional specs with a much longer upgrade path (you just don't get that with a prebuilt machine, even a desktop) we haven't looked back. Granted a desktop isn't as convient as a laptop. However, I'm very short and I need to pay attention to ergonomics when I work on a computer/at a desk or I will get migraines, back aches, the whole nine yards. Lowering my keyboard and raising my monitor keeps me from over reaching and everything in alignment. I can't make those adjustments with a laptop. Also, I found a local charity that will take my old computers and parts and use them to build Linux computers for the poor. No shipping old parts off to China!