Don't Toss Your PC in the Trash

Recycling a PC means knowing where it goes after it leaves your hands.

Personal computers might be largely safe for everyday use -- aside from the danger of overheated batteries in some models -- but they're poison when it comes to throwing them away.

The EPA estimates that 15% of discarded computers wind up in landfills every year, where they leak toxins like lead, mercury and even arsenic into the soil and potentially the groundwater. Dumping PCs (and other electronic goods like cell phones) also prevents valuable materials like copper, gold and aluminum from being recovered and recycled. (Blogger Ecogeek has more information on recycling cell phones.)

So when I recently brought home a sleek new Apple(AAPL Quote) iMac, the home-office equivalent of a Ferrari convertible, I began a search for the best route to take with the old jalopy it replaced. ...