How To Green Your Electronics
At Sunnking, we are obviously all about being green when it comes to recycling your old electronics. But there are some changes you can make to prolong the life of your current electronics. You can also make some smart purchasing decisions when you're due for new gadgets. Here are some tips on how to green your electronics!
1. Use rechargeable batteries. 15 billion batteries are produced and sold each year, and the majority of those are the disposable alkaline batteries (and only a small percentage of those are recycled). See if some of your current devices can take rechargeable batteries; if you're in the market for a new device, make sure it takes rechargeable batteries.
2. Kill vampire voltage. Too many people don't know (or are just too lazy to change their habits!) that keeping your devices plugged in when you're not using them still uses electricity. Unplug your devices when you are not using them. You probably notice that when you touch the charger it is still warm even if it hasn't been charging anything; that means that there was still an electrical current moving through. If you use a power strip, just unplug the power strip!
3. Turn off your electronics when you're not using them. This seems to be all too simple, but plenty of people keep the TV on when they've left the house, or keep their computer on over night. To power a normal computer all day costs between $115 and $160 in electricity per year. This means by not turning off your computer, 1,500 pounds of carbon dioxide are released into the air. That means it would take between 100 to 500 trees just to offset those emissions for a year. Think about that next time you don't feel like shutting down your computer!
4. Buy used electronics. Take a look at eBay (Sunnking's eBay page) to get your next electronic device before you spend a fortune on the newest and most expensive gadget. If you're wary of purchasing a device that has been used before, do some research and make sure you buy from a top-rated seller on eBay (like Sunnking!). Sometimes older, used models are in just as good of condition as the newest model that just came out.
5. Get a solar charger. These are now starting to pop up everywhere. Solar chargers come in a variety of handheld and backpack chargers. Now they even have some models that will collect the solar energy and then transfer the power to your device when you need it! With the trend of renewable energy on the rise, these solar chargers may eventually be the only way to charge our devices.
6. Extend your use. We are all guilty of buying the most recent electronic device or toy even if our old one works perfectly fine. Chances are, the older model is more reliable than the new one. Before you completely ditch your old electronic device, see if you can fix it first. You may just need a new battery for your cell phone, or your computer may just need a quick checkup.
These are all simple tips that we could easily implement into our lives. If you decide to follow any of these or none at all, just make sure that when you're done with your current electronic devices, ECYCLE them!