Recycle and Reuse your Electronics

As you can imagine, we affluent few in the United States go through quite a bit of electronics, not only because we have so many (think of how many TV's and computers the average person owns) but also because we get rid of and buy new ones so frequently. We live in an era where everything gets thrown away rather than lasting long enough to hand down to ones children for generations.
To get an idea of the amount of electronics we go through, here is some statistics from the EPA,
1.9 – 2.2 million tons obsolete
1.5 – 1.8 million tons disposed
345,000 – 379,000 tons recycled,
just in the year 2005. As you can imagine, this number has likely increased since then.
Why should we recycle our electronics rather than putting them in landfill?
This information is taken from GreenerChoices.org
• Computer monitors with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) contain four to eight pounds of lead on average. The EPA has identified electronic products as the largest single source of lead in municipal solid waste.
• Printed circuit boards in computers, music players, and other electronic devices contain toxic metals such as chromium, nickel, and zinc.
• Batteries in the computer may contain nickel and cadium.
• Relays, switches, and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) may contain mercury.
• Plastics used in many computers also contain flame retardants that are toxic and persist in the environment. Studies suggest they accumulate in household dust and in the food chain, and they have been detected in some fish.

To top it all off, I have come to personally realize that some electronics don't even make it to the landfill, but rather these toxins are dumped right in our own community environment. While hiking in the Douglas State forest, there was once a railroad bed for the Grand Trunk. Much work went into the carving of this railroad bed to make it as flat as possible despite the hilly Massachusetts landscape, hence many steep valleys were dug into the hills to enable the train to pass on level ground.
This steep valley dug for the railroad just off my street south of my house has become a dumping ground for all kinds of things that people didn't take to the dump or recycle. Instead, for whatever reason, they dumped their waste in the State Forest.
And there it lies, leaching its toxins into the soil and destroying the view. It makes me so angry.
So, I've decided to fix it, the best I can. I pulled out some computers already, and there are a few more. Conveniently, the 1st Congregational Church is having a recycling drive on the 5th of September. I'm still working on how I'm going to come up with the recycling fee.
I've talked to some people and they said I needed to talk to the Douglas State Forest people, since its their land. I'll have to get on it this week.
I only pray that I will be able to find the means to turn this ugly sin against the environment into resources so that new products can be generated without mining more and more materials out of the ground, then lessening the horrific impacts of America's insatiable demand to new stuff...