A WEEE Problem With E-Waste

Belated kudos to Washington state for sticking electronics manufacturers with the cost of recycling their obsolete (and often toxic) products. The new law, which Gov. Christine Gregoire signed late last month, is the toughest e-waste legislation in the country. But don't start hauling out your old TVs, computers, and monitors just yet--it doesn't take effect until January 2009.

Maryland, Maine, and California have similar laws, though the latter two require consumers to pay small disposal fees. According to the Associated Press, 19 other states and New York City have electronic recycling bills pending this year. These local lawmakers are all following in the footsteps of the European Union, which in 2003 passed the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requiring retailers and manufacturers to recycle their products. To promote awareness of that law, a British group is touring around that scary-looking guy in the corner--a robotic sculpture made out of the 3.6 tons of high-tech trash the average Brit discards in a lifetime.

(Get more ideas for living well and doing good in "The Green Life," a new section appearing in every issue of Sierra magazine.)