Good Questions: Recycle or Freecycle?

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Carie emailed in with this question:

For various reasons I've ended up with two more televisions than I
actually need. My initial plan was to stick them up on Craigslist free
stuff or Freecycle (they aren't very good tvs), but with the upcoming
switch to digital I'm worried that they'll end up in the trash in a
couple years.

Is it better to offer them up for reuse or guarantee that they'll be
properly disposed of by recycling them myself? Am I underestimating
the likelihood of people buying digital converters? Are there any
other options?

Carrie,

This is a good one, almost philosophical. Remember those eBay ads from back in the day? "People are good." Well maybe they're good, but do they recycle?

It's tricky and we're not sure if there's a "right" answer. We'll tell you what we would do and invite everyone else's opinion.

If the TVs still work, we would lean toward listing them on Freecycle (or Craigslist). We don't know all that much about digital, but we've been using the same old television for a long time and plan to use it until it stops working completely.

We'd guess that there is someone out there who would put your televisions to good use.

So we'd advertise them for free, then we'd take a Sharpie and write "Recycle me" and the phone number for your local electronics recycling facility on a blank label/sticker and affix it to the back of the televisions.

Subtle? No, but a little recycling encouragement never hurt anyone.

What do you think?

Image: Via H Berends

Comments (7)

Love the "Recycle Me" sticker idea. You have just made it really easy for someone to take the next step, AND you have given the TV a chance to "live out it's useful life" so to say. An excellent compromise!

Freecycle the TVs. There's some sort of government plan to make digital converters available to the indigent, plus you have to figure that when switchover happens, there will be huge recycle-your-old-TV campaigns, possibly promoted by sellers of new TVs.

And for all you know, they'll end up in the hands of a conceptual artist and spend the next 100 years in a museum.

I was going to say that too- about the sticker. Put all the info for recycling right on the back in bold, so it can't be missed.

You guys are so smart. That sticker is an awesome idea.

ps - anyone in Berkeley/Oakland need a tv?

I don't think it's fair to freecycle something on the condition that it eventually be recycled. That's like offering a friend a beer, on the condition that she recycle the bottle. When you give something away, it doesn't belong to you anymore, it belongs to the person you gave it to. It is their decision what to do with it.

If you can't handle it, just recycle it yourself, now.

Oh the sticker is a nice idea, I've been trying my damndest to recycle an old dead tv and it's not always easy to find the info. You're not forcing the next user to recycle it, you're just making it an easier option. Opo - it's not a conditional bargain on Craigslist, the new user will do whatever they want with it. So why not make recycling an easier option for them? I sure wish the prior owners of our dead tv had done this.

I think the sticker is an OK idea. Especially if the tone was more "how to recycle me", and less weird guilt trip.