Holiday Waste: How Not to Throw out your electronics

‘Tis the season to keep propping up the consumer electronics industry and swap out your old phones and tablets and computers in favor of slightly better, slightly more expensive new versions. Whether it’s an iPad 2 replacing an iPad, an iPhone 4s replacing an iPhone 4, or whether you just received an Kindle Fire tablet and simply hate it, chances are you have some outdated electronics on your hands. And you’re not alone: in a new report from the analysts at Pike Research found that the amount of end-of-life electronics—better known as e-waste—around the globe will grow from 6 million tons in 2010 to nearly 15 million tons by 2025. That’s a lot of obsolete—or just old—gadgets.

And we can’t simply toss those phones and electronics into the trash—or at least we shouldn’t. The lead, mercury and other toxic materials in electronics can leak from landfills, threatening groundwater supplies. But you can’t throw them in the recycling bin either—few municipal waste firms can recycle electronics. So what should you do then?

MORE: E-Waste Not

1) Re-gift them: If you’re a younger child, you’ve experienced this for yourself: the hand-me-down wardrobe. (Sorry,