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That old cell phone of yours is not going to decompose in your desk drawer, closet or (enter where you’ve hidden it here). Neither is that TV that’s magically no longer your problem once you set it outside your apartment.

Technology gives us a lot of new toys, and it quickly upgrades to better models. But when technology becomes obsolete, the trash should not be where it’s at. This needs to become as important to us as buying that more stylish iPod, that faster laptop or that new cell phone that does everything but save a cat from a burning tree.

According to the International Association of Electronics Recyclers, 400 million units of consumer electronics will find a landfill each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that between 2000 and 2007, around 500 million computers will become obsolete. Right now, 500 million cell phones that have become trash worthy are in the hands of Americans, and 130 million more are added each year. In 2000, only 9 percent of all obsolete electronics were recycled.

Head swimming yet? The numbers are really not that surprising, considering that by the time you finish reading this article, your cool new gadget has likely become boring.

And trashing it is easy – usually it’s small enough to fit in your kitchen trash – but what’s easy is often not what’s right. Just as electronics don’t belong in the compost heap on your balcony, they also don’t belong in landfills where they will leak radiation, lead and other poisons.

That’s where the two types of recycling of “e-waste,” or electronics waste, step in. Usually, e-waste recycling is more like re-using than recycling. In these cases, an organization takes the unwanted technology and refurbishes it. The electronics are then donated to programs helping individuals – or in the case of computers, sometimes schools – that cannot afford new technologies.

The second type of e-waste recycling is more akin to what the word recycling traditionally brings to mind. Technologies are taken apart, and parts that can be recycled – like glass and metal – are recycled or smelted. Elements that are harmful to people and the environment are properly disposed of, rather than left to leak into the ground or water.

It takes a lot of effort on the part of these programs, and it varies in how cost effective it is in the short term. However, in the long term, it’s the least we can do for ourselves. The EPA even sees potential for a growing job market in e-waste recycling.

We as students have a responsibility to our future and the environment. For individuals, electronics recycling is quite simple, though most students I interviewed were unaware of it.

The EPA lists many of these recycling organizations, or you can simply google the words “(technology of your choice) recycling.” There are often recycling centers nearby that collect e-waste.

Some electronics stores, such as Best Buy and Staples have been known to collect unused electronics. Most Cingular Wireless stores are happy to receive old cell phones, and you can mail your old phones to Verizon Wireless’ program “Hopeline Recycling.” Some programs even inform you of how your shipping costs are tax deductible, or offer free shipping period.

For those who are more excited about e-waste recycling, you can start a collection drive for cell phones. Then, you simply ship them to one of the many organizations that collect them, such as Pledge-A-Phone. Like many other programs, it refurbishes and redistributes the phones to battered women’s homes for emergency contacts, and furthermore pledges money to the charity organization of your choice.

I am proud to say that UCLA’s facilities management recycles its e-waste. Furthermore, we have an e-waste “UCLA SAFE Collection Center” on Charles E. Young Drive.

So the problem for once seems not to be accessibility. Instead, it’s a lack of knowledge, which I hope I have changed slightly.

The only problem left is that people seem to be growing emotional attachments to their old technologies. I have to admit, I myself once hugged my old computer while coaxing it to work – and then I kicked it for ignoring me.

Afterward, it sat in my garage, attempting to be what it’s not: biodegradable. Finally, I realized it was time for it to go. Now it’s either helping someone more needy than me, or safely resting in pieces. And that’s just as magical as a TV disappearing off your front lawn.

Hashem is glad that at least she’s still biodegradable. E-mail her at nhashem@media.ucla.edu.