High tech Earth Day recycling tips

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If your electronic junk has been piling up, Earth Day is the ideal time to get rid of unwanted items in an environmentally friendly way. Here are tips on how to recycle everything from your computer to your iPod.

1. Check the Manufacturer

You may find that the company you buy your next computer from will take your old one off your hands, either for free or at a nominal cost according to Consumer Reports.

Manufacturers like Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), and HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) provide computer recycling services.

Keep in mind, some manufacturers will pick up your old computers and hardware, but other manufacturers require that ship your electronics to them. And that can cost you about $30.

If you want to recycle your iPod or your cell phone, you can do that at an Apple Store.

Some companies will also accept used ink and toner cartridges since they can be filled and resold. And retailers also accept used computer equipment for recycling.

Some retailers like Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) sponsor recycling events where you can drop off electronics of all kinds, from TVs to fax machines.

You can check on the retailer's website to see if there is an upcoming event in your neighborhood.

2. Get local

Towns also sponsor collection days for TVs and other electronics.

There may be a drop-off point for electronics waste. To find out what's happening in your area, go to the Electronic Industries Alliance website at http://www.eiae.org/.

You can also find recyclers and recycling events in your area, by visiting my GreenElectronics at mygreenelectronics.com. That site is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association.

3. Donate

Start with your community first, like your local schools or charities.

But there are a number of nonprofit organizations that accept electronics.

Check out Earth 911 at earth911.org and Freecycle.org.

Freecycle.org helps you find a local home for your unwanted electronics.

The Cristina Foundation is another non-profit association that connects potential computer donors with local schools and charities. That website is Cristina.org.

4. Protect yourself

Before you donate anything, from a computer to a cell phone or a personal electronic device, you want to make sure there is no personal information that someone can access.

If you want to get info off of your hard drive, use free software like the one from Eraser. You will be able to remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times. That website is http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/.

And when it comes to your cell phone or PDA, take it back to the manufacturer and have your information deleted by the technician.

Make sure the technician overwrites the data. This process can take up to 30 minutes, but it's free of charge.

5. The little things count

If you want to go green, switch out your light bulbs to compact florescent lamps.

A single bulb can save from $25 to $45 over its life. And it's a long life: Manufacturers claim that CFLs last between 5 and 13 times longer than regular bulbs.

Try to skip the bottled water. Instead, filter your tap water. Bottled water is both expensive and it contributes to a lot of waste.

And make sure you put that computer to sleep. A recent report by Consumer Reports indicates that putting a computer to sleep for 12 hours out of every 24 would save almost 580 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Keep in mind that screen savers do not actually save energy.