Filed under: Desktops, Digital Cameras, Displays, Misc. Gadgets, Laptops, Peripherals

Best Buy already gladly accepts cellphones, batteries, ink cartridges and other items for recycling, but it looks like you can now offload some of your larger, unwanted electronics gear free of charge as well — if you near one of the 117 stores in the Baltimore, San Francisco, and Minnesota areas that are participating in the company’s new test program, that is. According to the company, those stores will now accepting up to two items per day, per household, including televisions and monitors up to 32-inches, computers, cameras and other devices not including microwaves, air conditioners. or appliances. There’s no word on any future plans for expansion of the program just yet, with Best Buy only going so far as to say that it’ll “evaluate the success of the test and determine options for scaling it across the U.S.” Of course, there’s also plenty of other recycling options available if you don’t want to wait for Best Buy to make up its mind.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The US Postal Service may soon become very relevant to a generation which seems increasingly disinterested in physical mail. The USPS is launching a pilot program in ten cities and 1,500 post offices which hopes to aid in the fight against electronic waste. Come rain, sleet, snow, or any other violent natural occurrence, the post office will now allow you to mail used printer ink cartridges, PDAs, MP3 players, and other small electronics to Clover — a company which recycles the castoff hunks of metal and plastic — free of charge. You can feel pretty good about utilizing the new service too, as Clover is a “zero landfill” company, which means they do everything they can to avoid making more waste. Now, if the postal service can just do something about these old TVs that need hauling…

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Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia’s been putting quite a focus on contributing to a greener, healthier world as of late — still running off the high of winning Greenpeace’s praise, perhaps — and its latest concept, unveiled at MWC, takes the commitment to an extreme. The “Remade” phone is exactly that: a handset made entirely of recycled stuff. The case and keypad are fashioned from tossed cans, for example, and apparently, even the electrical components (never mind that the Remade can’t actually place a call in its current incarnation) are entirely reused. No plans have been revealed to produce the Remade or anything quite like it, but the way Nokia’s going — and the way we’re throwing away tin cans — we wouldn’t be surprised if it happened down the road.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s no secret that gadget aficionados like ourselves have mounds of kit that was hot stuff in its heyday, but figuring out what to do with it once its prime has passed is still a mystery to some. ‘Course, the entrepreneurs in the crowd simply offer their previously loved wares up to the world via eBay (or similar), but for those lacking the time / motivation to do so, rest assured, companies are on the prowl to totally take advantage of you. TechForward and NEW are two firms that are looking to make a mint from entering the gadget buyback realm, and as you’d probably expect, the cash doled out to suckers individuals who bite on this is woefully less than market value — but then again, it’s ultra-convenient, shipping is free and it’s guaranteed, hassle-free money. Sounds like the pawn shop just got with the times, eh?

[Image courtesy of PlanoPawnShop]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Even casual fans of Jermaine Clement could appreciate the Recycl-o-sort — after all, it’s hard to deny the vitalness of sorting out the recycling. In that spirit, a team of MIT students concocted a prototype that automatically sifts through recyclables and deposits them into the appropriate bin depending on makeup. The sun-powered device is currently being tested in Boston’s Codman Square area as part of Family, Inc.’s recycling awareness campaign, and it reportedly uses a “turntable” to pass each item through a trio of sensors to determine whether it’s aluminum, plastic, glass or just plain rubbish. Call us crazy, but this whole thing just brings back memories of that team building exercise we did back in ‘99.

[Via Core77]

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