They'll install your electronics, and take the old ones away

July 29, 8:18 AMBusiness ExaminerDarrell Proctor

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Business Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Recyling electronics can be a confusing process.

When it comes to installing that new HDTV or home theater system, it's usually best to call in the experts.

Many retailers offer their own services, and Zip Express is one that will also take away your old electronics for recycling. That's a bonus since trying to find a recycler on your own can be time-consuming.

If you get installation and recycling together from Zip, there's a discount. The recycling is $79 for one item, $40 for each additional. If you get it with an installation, it starts at $49.

Zip Express - based in Minneapolis - is available nationwide. You can sign up for the service in-store at participating retailers, online through participating e-tailers and directly at www.zipinstallation.com.

A side note here - I was cleaning out my basement over the past weekend and also had some old items left over from an office move. I discovered that my local Goodwill will take a working television, but it won't take computers (and with Goodwill, you can take a tax deduction for donations if you itemize your taxes).

And if you live in a neighborhood where junk haulers come through on trash day (we call them the "pickers"), find out whether they will take your old electronics. One who came through my neighborhood this morning said he will take old computers and other electronics, as well as appliances. I won't vouch for whether that's the environmentally best way to dispose of unwanted items, but it does save you a haul-away fee and/or a recycling fee.