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Santa’s sleigh is virtually in sight as the holiday season comes into focus. For millions of Americans that means updating their televisions. This translates into more LED and LCD televisions hitting the streets and making their way into homes. This old-for-new television swap underscores the importance of responsible recycling.
These newer televisions are definitely more eco-friendly than their cathode-ray tube (CRT) predecessors but updating old with new certainly raises a few environmental concerns. But what the heck are CRT televisions? What do they look like? In short, the older CRT televisions were built much thicker and “boxier” than the flatscreens you see today.
These older television (maybe you have one in your basement or attic right now?) need to be responsibly disposed of so that their toxic, harmful components don’t slowly degrade in landfills. If that happens, these older televisions can leach into the soil or water. Clearly, nobody wants that, least of all the planet…The solution?
Environmentally Responsible TV Disposal
California has very strict laws when it comes to recycling potentially harmful electronics (e-waste) per the Electronic Waste Recyling Act of 2003. The idea there is to reduce the incidence of illegal dumping and the amount of hazardous waste that would otherwise threaten to get into the soil and water through landfills.
Certainly not a bad idea. Fortunately, Junk King can do the heavy lifting in terms of lugging these heavier CRT televisions out of your home. Many homeowners are understandably reluctant to cart off these kinds of televisions because they can be bulky, heavy, and they last for 20 years or more. That longevity and bulkiness means they can collect cobwebs.
These “boxier” CRT televisions can actually be somewhat fragile inside, which is surprising because they look so robust on the outside. The average old television contains eight pounds of lead and other potentially dangerous heavy metals like cadmium and mercury.
In many cases, the glass screen is all that’s holding in these heavy metals from polluting the environment. No bueno! The other thing to bear in mind is that these older televisions can’t be left out on the curb and taken away, easy-peasy, by the munipical trash service. That’s where Junk King comes in.
Call on Junk King for Donation or Recycling
Ready for a junk free life? Junk King can help you donate or recyle your obsolete television so that the potentially hazardous components can stay out of landfills or perhaps be put to use by a needy family or recycled for other means. The average family updates their television every few years and might have one or two lingering about in their homes, so the supply is definitely there.
The decision of whether to donate or recycle in terms of tv disposal will invariably boil down to whether your old television actually turns on and functions or not. If your CRT television or older LED television turns on but has been replaced ans shelved, then donation might make more sense. If your television doesn’t even function or the screen is cracked, then recycling wins out.
Junk King will haul away a variety of electronic (e-waste) including but not limited to: old copier machines (residential and commerical), computers (laptops and desktops), monitors, printers, shredders, and of course televisions (both CRT and flat screen televisions are taken by Junk King). TV disposal doesn’t need to be difficult.
Though folks tend to think about the precious, semi-precious, and heavy metals in these devices as harmful to the environment, they’re also labor intensive to mine and could be valuable in their own right. Copper, silver, gold, and palladium are tough to find and mine – they are also valuable and can be recovered from obsolete cell phones and other electronic devices.
Set up an appointment with Junk King to kick off the process of being more environmentally conscious with your e-waste and keeping these valubale, finite resources (e..g, gold and palladium) in circulation through recyling. Book online and save $20 on your next appointment!
