It’s summer, so I’m currently sorting through (what has become) the clutter of my past: my garage full of stuff.
One category which is pretty big is obsolete electronics. I have decided to recycle much of it instead of trying to find a home for it (by selling it). It will save me time, and each year a higher percentage of it has become truly useless.
One problem: It’s really hard to recycle electronic waste in Houston / Harris County unless you want to pay for it (Office Depot, DataReflects, Best Buy, etc.). Since a recycling program should be able to pay for itself — I am recycling valuable metals here — I don’t feel comfortable paying to have stuff recycled.
This means I have to be in the right place at the right time. Houston has two drop-off locations. One is open two week days per week and one Saturday per month, which the other is open one day per month:
- Houston Environmental Service Center – South
Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Second Saturday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
11500 South Post Oak, Houston, TX 77035 - Houston Environmental Service Center – North
Second Thursday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
5614 Neches Building C, Houston, TX 77026
I had a hard time even finding out about these options, and it seems that someone noticed this is a problem and did a study on it: “Free E-Recycling, But Nobody Knows” (pdf).
