By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Hundreds of New Yorkers made it a New Year's resolution to rid their households of "e-waste" over the weekend.
About 500 people braved the high winds and freezing temperatures to drop off an estimated 10 tonnes of old computer monitors, television sets, CD players and printers in Union Square on Sunday.
Four more events are planned for the month of January.
For seven years, the Lower East Side Ecology Center has timed their e-waste recycling days to come on the heels of the holiday season, giving Manhattanites a chance to dispose of old, unwanted or broken electronics in an environmentally responsible way.
"Electronic waste is really a growing problem," said executive director Christina Datz–Romero. "Technology advances so quickly these days. Things can get outdated in two to three years and people see a need to upgrade and dispose of the old equipment."
Datz-Romero told DNAinfo that electronic waste contributes 70 percent of the toxins found in landfills across America, including lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants.
A recently passed law makes it illegal for New York City residents to dispose of electronic items, starting July 1, 2010.
The equipment dropped off during the e-waste recycling events is loaded into trucks and transported to a recycling facility. The components are then sold to base metal brokers for use as raw materials, precious metal recovery refiners, and secondary plastics industries.
Find out more about the Lower East Side Ecology Center's e-waste recycling program here, and read the FAQs to find out what you can bring to the next event.
Upcoming e-waste recycling dates:
January 09, 2010
10:00am - 4:00pm
Riverside Drive at Dyckman Street, New York, NY 10034
January 10, 2010
10:00am - 4:00pm
331 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021
January 16, 2010
10:00am - 4:00pm
Tekserve, 119 W 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
January 17, 2010
10:00am - 4:00pm
Prospect Park, Prospect Park West and 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
