Electronic appliances and devices are now a common occurrence in our daily lives. In fact, you will find it near impossible to enter a house and not be surrounded. With electronics a company churning out new technology on a daily basis the junk is slowly mounting, and so should be your concern…
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Fact behind the technology
While people are enjoying the benefits of these new and exciting devices on a daily basis, they don’t know that there’s a piling problem occurring in the background. Electronic appliances don’t last forever and they become waste once they start to malfunction and beyond repair. This gave birth to the concept of electronic waste.
Why be concerned with electronic wastes?
You may be asking right now as to why you should be concerned with electronic waste, as you might of heard it all before, but just take a second and read on. Electronic appliances and devices are made from different parts containing material that may harm the environment like mercury, sulphur, lead and others. If not disposed properly, they can cause health problems for you and make a negative impact on the environment.
Fortunately, you can contribute in decreasing electronic wastes by recycling some of its parts. The following are seven of the electrical components you can recycle or reuse.
Capacitors
Image courtesy of oskay from Flickr
Electronic boards are filled with different capacitors. A damaged circuit board doesn’t really have malfunctioning capacitors so they can still be used for fixing other electronic devices. Capacitors are small, colored components with metal ends. They can be removed by desoldering the parts from the board and reuse on other components.
Connectors and cables
Computers utilize a lot of cables and they can be reused by consumers if they will get another system. They can also serve as backup devices at home in case the cables they are currently using are having problems.
Transformers
They look like boxes with metal threads on them and connected cables. Some people get this from their electronic appliances and sell them to establishments that purchase them. Others, however, get these components as backup components for their other electronic appliances.
Switches
Switches are also found on circuit boards and they can be very useful on other boards or electronic projects. You will find them in different designs depending on the circuit board that you have.
Resistors
Image courtesy of oskay from Flickr
Resistors are like capacitors but with different shapes. They have cylinder-like shapes and with different color lines as Ohm value indicators. A lot of hobbyists get these components and use it on them on other devices. If you want to know its resistance levels, you can use a multimeter and record it for future use.
Piezo Buzzers
These components are used as contact microphones on other devices. The good thing is you can still use them on your other devices given that they are still working properly. Some are even able to form a pickup microphone for their instruments through this device.
LED bulbs
Many individuals find the use of these LED bulbs and create a different lighting design for their other items at home. For instance, some bikers create their own LED lights for bicycles by reusing the LED lights from circuit boards or other appliances.
What Now?
You can contribute in decreasing electronic waste and get utmost benefit from it. Now that you know these components, you may want to check them out and create a brand new accessory for your other items at home. You will now find a lot of videos and tips on how to remove these components and how to reuse them to save money.
Author Bio | Geoffery is freelance electronics hobbyist reguarly writing on sites like Farnell Element 14, electronics components sites. In his spare time he enjoys experimenting with different multimeter products.