recycle

Just how much tech junk is getting recycled?

Correction at 9:20 a.m. PDT: The time span for Office Depot's figures is one year.

Last year, Office Depot recycled almost 1.5 million pounds of old tech equipment through its service for consumers, the company said Wednesday.

That sounds like a lot. It makes you realize how quickly all those landfills must be filling up since that figure represents only the junk from people who 1) actually bother to recycle, and 2) chose to go with Office Depot's recycling program.

For a comparison, I decided to check how other company-sponsored recycling programs are doing. Unfortunately, … Read more

iWood 3B leads charge in smartphone devolution

Forget what I told you before about disguising your iPhone; there are alternatives to feeling embarrassed by your mobile phone. Why not buy one that you can be proud of, maybe even one forged from the ashes of Miss Mother Nature herself? Set yourself up with an iWood 3B smartphone and you'll never again miss "all the times you wood rather stab someone in the eye than talk about 3G anything."

The iWood 3B is the perfect complement for the on-the-go professional who knows when it's time to work, when it's time to play, and when it's time to tap on a 3-inch by 4-1/2 half inch piece of Bamboo Plywood. Amazingly, the entire device is crafted from a single block of wood, and it's contoured at a precise 90-degree angle to fit ergonomically in your hand.

Like its current competition, it has all the internal components you now expect out of a full-time device: accelerometer, proximity/light/infrared sensor, and even its own sensor for sensing sensors around your sector. Best of all, the iWood 3B draws all of its power from a rechargeable gyroscopic battery that should last for approximately infinity hours with just one twitch.

What all-in-one (AIO) would be prepared for the masses without its own set of unique applications? Aside from the standard to-do list, calendar, MP3 player, and Web, the iWood also offers its own line of real-world apps that run autonomously off the OS. … Read more

Radio Shack launches in-store trade-in program for used gadgets

Starting this week, Radio Shack will pay you to bring back your old, unwanted electronics to its stores.

The retailer has launched a new in-store trade-in program that it's describing as a way to instantly upgrade to the latest technology.

It works like this: Bring in working phones, cameras, MP3 players, game consoles, video games, or GPS receivers to a store and an employee will appraise the product's value and offer a Radio Shack gift card for that amount. The gift card can be used right away, but proper ID and a current address will be taken to … Read more

NextWorth wants more than old iPods now

I lost interest in eBaying my old tech when all the PowerSellers moved in making it more difficult to unload an unwanted or unneeded gadget. That's why trade-in sites make sense; I'm willing to take a little less cash than deal with setting up an ad, answering crazy buyer questions, and then packaging things up and getting them shipped.

One such site, NextWorth, started off only doing iPods and iPhones, but as promised late in 2008, the company has expanded its trade-in opportunities to include BlackBerrys, digital cameras, GPS units, video games, and video game consoles.

Getting a … Read more

Should you donate or recycle that old PC?

Not every computer user turns his or her attic into a graveyard for outdated, useless PCs the way I do, as I described in a post last week on the safe and sane way to dispose of an old hard drive.

But before you don the goggles and break out the power tools, consider whether there isn't some mileage left in the drive, as well as in the PC you removed it from. It has never been easier to find a nonprofit willing to sanitize and refurbish old computers.

However, if the system has indeed chomped its last bit, … Read more

Two bins in one to make recycling easier

The idea of recycling appeals to most of us, but it's not always easy to get from the idea to the reality. Set yourself up for success by making it as easy as possible to recycle things. The Twin Bin from Brabantia is a brilliant or matte stainless steel trash can that's split into two compartments: a 23-liter everyday bin, and a 10-liter area for compostable waste.

Keep your organic matter ready for easy composting without having to keep a second trash can in the kitchen with a single can that looks good enough to be on display. … Read more

Plastiki: Message in a bottle raft

British adventurer and bank dynasty heir David de Rothschild plans to sail from San Francisco to Australia--in a boat made from discarded soft-drink bottles.

No sharp epoxy smells greet us on San Francisco's Pier 31 when we go to visit de Rothschild on a sunny weekday afternoon. Instead, popping sounds from bottles being re-inflated echo like a huge popcorn machine in the northern end of a hangar. This is where the strange vessel, called "Plastiki," is being built.

In part of this hangar the size of a football field, 12,000 recycled bottles donated by the Waste Management company are being washed, cleaned, and pressurized for their new role--acting as flotation devices in the two pontoons of the 60-foot high-tech catamaran.

"If we really want to move from Planet 1.0 to Planet 2.0, we need to really start taking action and stop just talking," de Rothschild says as he arrives at the construction site.

The tall, bearded 30-year-old--a charismatic scion of the British Rothschild bank dynasty and the youngest British person to ever reach both the North and South poles--demands attention as he circles the busy site.

He runs the Adventure Ecology educational organization and is the mastermind behind the Plastiki project, which, among other things, aims to change people's perception of garbage. Today, most plastic bottles in the U.S. are not recycled, according to environmental organizations, and instead end up in the world's landfills and oceans.

"Thirty-nine billion plastic bottles are consumed in the U.S. every year," de Rothschild says. "Only 20 percent are recycled. Imagine what that is in terms of resources."

The lofty goal of a voyage to Australia has spurred a number of inventions. The skeletal hull, decks, and cabin of the boat, for example, are made of composite Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic panels consisting of layers of self-reinforcing PET skins, a woven fabric made of reused plastic.

"What we have been exploring with is biocomposites, bioglues, biopolymers," de Rothschild says, "things that are not just going to be positive for this project, but have ongoing implications." … Read more

Bay Area to recycle electronics in Sony style

San Francisco Bay Area residents, I have some good news and it comes from Sony.

The company announced Friday that it would host a free electronic-recycling event for the Bay Area. This is part of its national Take Back Recycling program that's done in partnership with Waste Management Recycle America.

The event is taking place on Saturday, March 28, at the Shoreline Amphitheater from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. During this time, anybody can come and drop off any brand of used or outdated electronics for proper, free recycling.

To encourage people to recycle, Sony will even … Read more

Skivvies for your girl robot

It would be easy to dismiss ladies' underwear made out of recycled materials as a gimmick, and maybe it is, but it can't be denied that at least it's an attractive gimmick. Artist Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch--who is often inspired by the sort of stuff found in hardware stores--has created this line of handmade "trashy" lingerie out of recycled cans, bottles, and other materials.

I doubt they'd work for day-to-day wear, but for special green occasions--say a naughty Arbor Day Ball--they'd be a perfect way to show off your eco-friendliness.

What's great is … Read more