TV recycling picking up steam... because it must

When the government-mandated switch from analog to digital TV takes place next Februrary, countless old TVs will suddenly become not quite junk but something approaching it.

Sure, lots of people will try to figure out the whole digital-to-analog converter box thing (your grandparents may be calling you), but many more will simply decide it's time for a TV upgrade. And then it's off to the landfill with the old Trinitron.

Or maybe not. Sony is leading the way in holding "takeback" events to which you can bring your old electronics for recycling. Green Daily reported that Sony will even bring back a few of its vintage TV commercials from the good old days as a way to remind us to recycle.

A successful event was held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego in early March, and up to 40 more all around the country are planned for 2008 although the schedule is not yet definite.

Try to participate if you can. The EPA says that only 380,000 tons of e-waste were properly recycled in 2005, while more than two million tons ended up in landfills.