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The idea of e-waste alone overwhelms me with a sense of eco-anxiety—and one of the reasons why I exist solely with a single cell phone (which, even that purchase took some convincing). I get by and just hope that my trusty little Nokia won’t putter out, living a nice long existence.
Imagine then my thoughts on the digital television transition—taking place after tomorrow, June 12. If you haven’t yet heard the news from your local cable provider, television stations across the country will only be broadcasting in digital. Which means if you’re an old schooler still rocking an analog TV set, catching programming via rabbit ears or a roof-top antenna—you won’t be able to anymore.
But that doesn’t mean you need to be an e-waste perpetrator, booting your tube to the curb like the 20 million Americans who did last year. (Yes, this is faint material for me, folks.)
Instead, follow the EPA’s sage advice and extend the life of your TV. You can do this by either subscribing to a paid TV service or connecting it to a converter box—particularly an Energy Star-qualified one.
If you hands down, need a new TV, the next best green option would be to recycle your unwanted one and buy a new Energy-Star-qualified set. Just make sure your old TV gets recycled through your local household hazardous waste collection or through the EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling program.
Not sure what the heck ‘analog’ and ‘digital’ even means? Or if this even affects you? Click over to the EPA’s digital television transition site.
More on E-Waste:
What's Your e-Waste IQ? (Quiz)
Encourage E-waste Recycling in Your Workplace
How and Where to Recycle All of Your Gadgets
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