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Oregon e-Cycles has a great website up for consumers to help guide them through the whys and hows of e-cycling. If you live in the area, simply type in your zip code and you're given a listing of local collection points. Oregon has another item that will launch next New Year's Day: on January 1, 2010, disposal of computers, monitors and TVs will be banned . Also launching on this New Years Day was Washington's new program letting people drop off certain e-waste items for free. They too have a search database for finding a local drop-off point , as well as a call-in hotline.

NBC25 NEWS - Ever wonder what to do with an old cell phone or outdated computer? There are better options than the trash. Computers, printers, and cell phones can all be saved from the landfill, but more often than not, outdated and unwanted electronics end up in the trash. "90 percent of all electronics, they are not disposed of properly, so you can see that poses a huge environmental problem," said Collin Marshall with Best Buy.

BRISTOL, Va. - There's a flip side to that newfangled cell phone found under the Christmas tree. Sooner or later, the outdated cell phones clogging the kitchen drawer have to go. However, when they do go, don't forget that those electronic beeps and whistles are powered by mercury, cadmium, lead and other toxic metals destined to seep into, and out of, a landfill. And toxic metals, such as mercury, can cause brain and kidney damage, as well as cancer, when released into the ground and air, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reports. So, instead of dumping outdated gadgets and gizmos into the trash can, environmental and industry leaders recommend recycling, which, in the case of electronics, is known as e-cycling. For nearly six years, Bristol Virginia Public Works has picked up laptops, monitors and even fluorescent light tubes left in marked boxes by the curb. As part of a statewide e-cycling effort, the technology is carted off during regular pickups.

Starting January 1, 2009, free year-round recycling of computers, monitors, laptops and TV's will be provided to households, small businesses, school districts and charities at authorized collection sites.

The FEC Steering Committee developed the following presentations to review program requirements, highlight the benefits of joining, and introduce useful tools.

FEC encourages responsible electronics life-cycle management and recognizes the importance of other Web-based resources. This list of external hyperlinks provides direct access to Web sites that FEC believes may be of use to its partners.

Collectively, state and local government purchase more than $35 billion worth of technology equipment annually*, and has the opportunity to provide leadership in the environmentally sound and cost effective management of electronic assets. The State Electronics Challenge (SEC) is a voluntary program that encourages state, regional, and local governments, including schools and other public entities, to: Purchase greener electronic products. Reduce the impacts of electronic products during use. Manage obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way.

For years, human rights advocates and environmentalists have sounded the alarm about the export of old computers and other electronic equipment to recyclers overseas.

E-waste: search through any basement, attic or garage in America and you'll likely find some. Old computers and cell phones, your ancient TV that shows only a scratchy black-and-white picture, that broken printer. These are all examples of electronic waste, also known as e-waste - a booming facet of America's waste stream. Americans generate between 5 and 7 million tons of e-waste each year - and the amount is growing three times faster than other types of municipal waste, according to the Northeast Waste Management Officials Association. The association is a nonprofit interstate group of New England states - including New Hampshire - that coordinates waste and pollution prevention programs. Though e-waste itself isn't a new phenomenon, only within about the last eight years have states tried to grapple with how to properly dispose of electronics that contain chemicals harmful to the environment when simply tossed in a landfill or burned in an incinerator. New Hampshire is one of 18 states in the country to have a law regulating e-waste, and the law may soon get a little stricter.

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition provides several excellent Consumer Guides that walk you through just how you go about finding a recycling facility for your old electronics. It can be worrisome, since you have to be careful your device is going to a responsible recycler and not someone who will ship it overseas to an unregulated and often highly toxic facility.

``The Washington bill is what other states wanted,'' said Scott Cassel, executive of the Product Stewardship Institute. Requiring manufacturers to cover the collection and recycling costs will encourage them to design greener products that are less toxic and easier to recycle, he said. ``Here is a state that took a careful, methodical and comprehensive approach and considered various options,'' Cassel said. ``Now state residents will have an electronics recycling system that will become the gold standard for the country.'' A wide and diverse group backed the bill, which also had bipartisan support. Computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co., Seattle electronics recycler Total Reclaim Inc., and retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com supported the bill. But the bill was far from receiving unanimous backing from electronics manufacturers. The Electronic Industries Alliance communicated its concerns with Washington's legislation. The group, along with 18 of its member companies, such as Dell Inc., IBM Corp. and Apple Computer Inc., did not support the bill. The law does not implement a shared responsibility approach. But rather, it extends the manufacturers' responsibility to finance the end of the life of their products, according to the EIA's remarks to the Washington Legislature. Such a system is inefficient, the group said, and will result in increased costs for Washington consumers.

Product Stewardship Oregon E-Cycles is an example of product stewardship. Product stewardship means that all parties involved in designing, manufacturing, selling and using a product take responsibility for environmental impacts at every stage of that product's life. Here's how the responsibilities are shared under Oregon E-Cycles.