E-Waste Recycling Legislation Expands

In Massachusetts, electronics such as CRTs are banned from landfills. From the MassDEP web site: "Unwanted consumer electronics - cell and smart phones, computers and monitors, televisions, DVD and MP3 players, pagers, PDAs and other devices - are the fastest-growing category of waste."

Personally, batteries are a problem. I have two young kids, each with loads of toys and devices. Drop-off centers, where I can take my dead batteries, are almost non-existent.

Nationally, we can have our dead electronic components shipped to the left coast. These components are then shipped to Asia where the locals then absorb the toxic chemicals produced by their disassembly. It's a farce, we just pass the problem onto someone else.

My neighbors just leave stuff in the back lane where it will eventually disappear.

Glad you raised this issue, Steve of the North.

Here's what I've observed myself in recent years. Interested to know if others have seen the same.

Cheap batteries from the various "Dollar Stores" are great for toys that the little ones leave on long after they're done playing with them. After all, why would a parent want to pay more for "name brand" batteries that get depleted in relatively short time anyway? So the cheap batteries get used up and thrown in the trash on a fairly regular basis. Yes, you have to replace them more often - but it's still cheaper to use them than a brand you might see advertised on TV.

In the absence of drop-off centers, what's the alternative for dead batteries that you can't recharge?

An alternative to all of the depleted batteries? How about items that do not take batteries.

I know this is a simplification that will not come about. When my children were of toy and possession enhanced ages, we bought them microscopes and telescopes, games without batteries (are these even still available?), bicycles, fishing gear, I put up a tetherball post and a zipline (the kids all LOVED that zipline!), we played badmitten, basketball, baseball... they did have some walkie-talkies they played with, so there were a few batteries to deal with but not very many.

Oh, and they were not/are not dealing with an obesity issue.