Most people don’t have ‘e-waste’ on their radar. In fact most people can’t visualize what it is.
It sounds a bit like some industrial effluent problem that we keep hearing about, or something that happens ‘over there’ -in developing countries. But e-waste is something we contribute to whether we know about it or not. It’s time local governments and business leaders addressed this knowledge gap.
For instance, the volume of e-waste climbed by 8.6% between 2005 and 2006 (as opposed 1.2 percent. for the volume of regular municipal waste).
But what does that look like? Where do the thousands of keyboards, computer monitors, obsolete phones and laptop batteries end up? You may not see an used PlayStation controller floating down a river when you’re out Trout fishing…
Jeff Rassas had a great idea one day. He decided to incentivize people to solve the problem locally. His company, YouChange.com, is not just another do-good company. It’s a robust business model. Audio systems, old gaming consoles, PDAs, optical drives and hundreds of other home electronics and business equipment can be turned into cash.
The web site lets you do it in three simple steps: Find out how much your gadget is worth – instant evaluation online by entering a model number. Send it to youchange.com (they take care of shipping & handling), and collect cash and reward points.
Here’s a short segment where Derrick Mains and Jeff Rassas talk about how businesses could be part of the solution. A longer version of this podcast could be found here at Your Triple Bottom Line.
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