Visit to the CRT graveyard

Last week, I took Thursday off to do some cleaning up around the house, and one item on the agenda was dumping an old 14-inch monitor.  It had been actually been functioning, but not knowing of anyone who would want such a thing, I took the old "put it out on the street and see if anyone takes it" approach.  Of course, a group of rambunctious neighborhood kids sensed the inherent lack of value in the old monitor and proceeded to raise it above their heads and drop it on the sidewalk, leaving me with a true toxic waste disposal problem.

To make a long story short, I had to pay the City of Berkeley $16 to take it off my hands, and there were piles and piles of 14 and 15-inch monitors stacked in the recycling area.  I felt just a little sullied for adding to it, but I'm glad they were at least recycling them.  (An aside: Berkeley residents feel guilty about many environmental issues.  There's always a traffic jam of CO2-emitting cars at the recycling center near my house).

I did a little research on the problem from a government policy standpoint and found that a bill was introduced (SB 1523) to deal with the issue back in August 2002, but was vetoed by Gov. Gray Davis the next month.  Fast forward to September 2003 and a bill was passed that will add on an additional $6-10 to monitors and televisions purchased by Californians to pay for their recycling.  I haven't researched the CRT recycling matter enough to have an opinion about all the different approaches, but you can follow those links and form your own.  Everyone does seem to agree that it's a problem.

Meanwhile, there are poor souls on eBay trying to sell 14-inch monitors for $14.99, plus $15 shipping.   As I write this, you only have 6 days and 4 hours to jump on that one.  Just be sure to save a little cash for when you have to dump it.