Old Electronics

Having broken down electronic equipment in your home can be stressful. It clutters up your house, taking up valuable space.

But don't just throw these items away! Many electronics have hazardous substances in them -- like lead and mercury -- that you definitely don't want seeping into the earth via landfills. (In fact, disposing of electronic waste in the regular garbage is illegal in some states.)

So what's a person to do? Recycle your electronics! Some brands -- like Apple and Dell -- take back their products once you are done with them. See a good list of such retailers here. If your product doesn't qualify, you still have lots of easy options.

Staples and Best Buy take back and recycle all sorts of electronics, regardless of the brand. While Staples charges $10 for every non-Dell product you bring in, Best Buy's recycling program is essentially free for all products they accept.

Electronics recycling is a big deal these days, so information and options abound out there. Even Comedy Central can help you with their Address the Mess campaign. Slate also recently ran a helpful article called "How to Dispose of Old Electronics in a Responsible Way." So, happy de-cluttering!

NOTE: For information specific to cell phones, which can be reused for great causes like giving people suffering from domestic violence a lifeline to call the police, see this article from green is sexy.

Shut down those computers!

The seemingly age-old question: when should you shut down your computer?

The answer to this question has changed since it was first posed. It used to be that powering up computers took a lot of energy, and, in some cases, it was better to leave it on overnight. For computers from the last decade or so, however, that is no longer the case. Overnight, shut them down!

Here is Reader's Digest's summary: "If you won't be using it for 20 minutes, turn off the monitor. If it won't be needed for more than two hours, turn off the computer."

If you're not going to be using your computer for even a few minutes, put in to "sleep" or on "power saving" mode. It'll save you the start-up time while being more energy-conscious.