Electronics Recycling in NYC

The Lower East Side Ecology Center is having a number electronics recycling events this summer.

Residential waste only, they won't accept commercial waste.

Accepted items:

• Computers (laptops, desktops, servers, mainframes)
• Monitors
• Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
• Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc)
• Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc)
• Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, etc)
• TVs, VCRs, & DVD Players
• Audio-visual equipment
• Cell phones, pagers, PDAs
• Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc)
• NO: Microwaves or other appliances

MANHATTAN

July 10th

10am - 4pm

Tekserve @ 119 W23rd St, Chelsea

July 17th

10am - 4pm

RING Garden at Riverside Dr (between Seaman Ave/Bdway), Inwood

July 18th

10am - 4pm

Stuyvesant Town -14th St Loop

Enter from 14th St & Ave A, to the right

July 24th & 25th

10am - 4pm

East side of Essex St between Hester & Grand St, LES

BROOKLYN

July 31st

10am - 4pm

Smith St between President & Union, Carroll Gardens

Do You Have a Paper Shredder?

(M5 Mailmate from Staples)

If not, you should. Like having a door mat and nice hangers, it's a no brainer to have a shredder. Anything with your name, address, and/or account info (bank, cc, etc) should be shredded for your personal safety. Of course you should do what you can to eliminate the junk mail you get, but the little you get should be shredded.

Here's what you need to know when buying a shredder:

• get a cross-cut/confetti
• get one that shreds disks and cc if you need it
• expect to spend $50-$95 for basic household, if you're shredding a lot, spend more
• don't overload it; if it says 5 sheets at a time, do 4 sheets
• many models can only do 5-10 minutes of shredding at a time

I don't like having my shredder out so I keep it unplugged under the kitchen sink and put paper to be shredded in the basket it came with and shred things all at once when it gets a little full. If you find yourself with a ton of shredding to do, you can go to a private shredding company who can either come to you, for a fee, or you can bring to them what you need shredded. Google your city and 'shredding service' to find someone near you.

Spring Cleaning

It's spring time here in NYC, the perfect time to give your space a good deep clean (whether you're in NYC or not!). Pull the curtains, open the windows, and get some fresh air and light into your home. The goal is to clear out what isn't adding to your life, fix what needs to be fixed, move some furniture around and give your space a fresh new perspective.

Just pick one spot to start and move around your space dealing only with the things you know are going to be donated, sold, trashed, recycled, etc. The idea is to get things out of the home quickly so you can see and feel the change in the space immediately.

DO

• focus on your immediate decisions.
• start with the things that are out (in plain site) before digging into closets, cabinets, and drawers.
• do one area/room/closet/cabinet at a time.
• clean as you go: vacuum out drawers, wipe down shelves, hinges and tops of doors.
• clean out the insides of closets completely including baseboards, inside door frame, shelves, and clothes rods.

DON'T

• get caught up in decision making (a common mistake!), if you're unsure about whether to keep something, just keep it and move on. you can always readdress it at the end.
• hold onto things for donation until you're 'done'. it's better to make several trips over time than to have too much sitting around clogging the space.
• move onto another area until you're finished with the area you started.

NOTE: Spring cleaning is yearly maintenance, so if you haven't gone through my process of completely going through your space, click here and get to work!