The Sad Side Of Recycling

Hamden CT electronics recycling at town Transfer Station

Want proof we live in a throwaway society? Take a drive to the dump transfer station. We were there today with the electronics culled in our spring cleaning.

Because electronics is often loaded with lead and other heavy metals you can’t just toss it. It is recycled.

Hamden’s dump transfer station is just down the road from the Southern Connecticut State University campus. Helaine and I drove there early this afternoon and stopped at the electronics pile.

So much of what was there, computers, TVs, fax machines and printers, looked ready for service. Alas, the cost of repair is more than the cost of manufacturing! This is major problem in our modern society.

Even as I added my own gear to the pile I felt bad, but what could I do?

These old, heavy, bulky, working TVs are valueless when a spiffy HD LCD TV can be had for under $100, has a better picture, takes up less space and uses a lot less electricity.

My trip to the dump transfer station was the right thing to do. It still left me feeling bad.

6 thoughts on “The Sad Side Of Recycling”

  1. Geoff – truly sad, depressing even. And for every TV you saw, I’ll bet there are 10 or 12 in landfills or landscapes. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and there’s a river at the bottom of the hill in the woods there. Last year I fished 2 big TVs out of that river and 2 from the woods. Disgusting.

    I would have no problem with an extra tax on electronics to pay for recycling. It would be a deterrent to unnecessary purchases and would go to a good cause. But of course, we know what happens to dedicated taxes.

  2. I belong to a group called Freecycle, it’s on Yahoo. People offer and take unwanted items. I have always disposed of my electronics there – someone always seems to want them. (I’m not sure if there’s a Hamden group, but there’s a Cheshire one, so there must be). I know it’s too late now for you, maybe for next time……

  3. ears ago things would be repaired and reused. Now, that’s not possible as the technology changes so fast the devices are rendered useless in months after purchase.

  4. Very sad. Sadder still is that there are still people out there who can’t afford new computers (or even used ones) and either have to go without or wait for a kind friend or associate to give them one.
    I’m poor, I admit it, and every computer I’ve ever had was a used one refurbished, reprogrammed and set up for me. If it weren’t for that I’d still be without one.
    Very sad.

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