The best ways to dispose of unwanted cell phones, PCs and computer accessories

Not surprisingly, there is a downside to our increased reliance on technology devices: electronic waste.

"E-waste" often refers to discarded rather than recycled chemical-seeping electronic equipment accumulating in Canadian landfills each year.

And despite new awareness campaigns, the problem is getting worse instead of better. Environment Canada estimates we'll be producing three times more e-waste this year compared to 2006.

But you can make a difference. Don't ditch your cell phone in the trash or kick your aging desktop computer to the curb. If you're unable to donate your old tech (to friends, family or charities), you can properly recycle them.

Here's a few tips:

PCs

All the major PC makers now have recycling options for you to properly return end-of-life machinery – and it doesn't matter if you bought the computer from them.

Dell Canada, for example, lists a number of recycling suggestions at dell.ca/recycling, including the option to fill out a waybill to attach to your old PC for delivery.

HP Canada also has a recycling info site (hp.ca/recycle), listing more than 32,000 drop-off locations. Or you can use the online ordering tool to request recycling services, such as postage-paid return shipping materials.

Cell phones

Cell phone carriers are now offering drop-off boxes for old phones and batteries at its retail locations, such as Bell, Telus and Rogers stores. Also check out your local FutureShop, Best Buy or Staples for similar boxes. Plus, most carriers offer printable labels from their website (such as at bell.ca/takeback), which can be affixed to an unwanted phone and dropped in a Canada Post mailbox.

Rogers Wireless, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Food Banks, is also including a postage-paid recycling bag with the sale of various wireless devices.

Printers & ink

If you're looking to recycle an old printer, you can do so by visiting the aforementioned PC recycling websites or by finding your closest drop-off location at the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA.ca) website.

Recycling print cartridges, on the other hand, can be handled in two ways: by downloading free mail return slips from a website such as hp.ca/recycle or by dropping them off at bulk collection boxes at your local tech retail store (see above).