recycling

So you've got the gang over for a backyard barbecue (hey, I live in Houston, and we don't do winter here), and the trash and recycling is piling up all over the deck. Grab a couple of Flings recycling and trash containers, and you're good to go.

Flings are portable, compact bins--when closed, they're about half the size of a pizza box--that snap open to hold 13 gallons of trash or recycling. You can avoid the classy trash-bag-hanging-from-a-nail look, and you can easily pop open two separate containers to keep your recyclables from being covered in … Read more

Satalink's Recycle Bin Manager improves on the native capabilities of the venerable Windows Recycle Bin, which does a decent job but has limitations that can make recovering files problematic and offers little in the way of options for emptying its contents. Recycle Bin Manager lets you set when and if it deletes certain kinds of files and from which drive, so some types get the quick heave-ho while others hang around a while, preventing the accidental deletion of critical file types.

Recycle Bin Manager's main interface, the file manager window, is efficient and sparse, just File, Edit, and … Read more

If the lifestyles of the technology rich and famous are any indication, we're about to enter an age of seriously conspicuous consumption.

Conspicuous, that is, for its wastefulness.

While green computing is all the rage, Infosys' co-founder and CEO, S 'Kris' Gopalakrishnan, told the Financial Times that he "change[s] phones every month."

A new phone. Every month. Really???

Granted, you don't have to be a multimillionaire CEO to cycle through phones on a monthly (or even weekly) basis. But if one assumes that middle-class technology consumers' buying behavior will eventually catch up with the idiosyncrasies … Read more

If you happen to be in New York's Times Square any time soon, you may notice this billboard for Best Buy's electronics recycling program. Make sure you take a close look! It's composed entirely of outmoded gear.

While part of me would hope some VHS players and bulky monitors would be allowed to fade away with dignity, at least these are ultimately being used in a clever way that promotes a good cause.

Besides, it looks cool! And it's bonus fun hunting for bygone favorites.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Do you know where or how to recycle that old TV or computer? If not, you're not alone.

Around 12 percent more people used the Web site Earth911.com last year than in 2008 to find out how to recycle their used items, according to a report (PDF) released Monday by Earth911.com.

The company offers a searchable database at its Web site where you can type the name of a product like computers or cell phones along with your ZIP code and receive a list of local stores and facilities to drop off those items for recycling.

Among … Read more

Duplicate File Eraser is a simple program that ostensibly finds and removes duplicate files. Although it's easy enough to find duplicates with the program, deleting them is another matter.

The program's interface is extremely plain, with all of the program's functions in view. Users first select the directory or directories that they want to search, then set a handful of other options, including whether or not they want to search subdirectories or include hidden files. The results appear in a separate tab, where users can select the files that they wish to delete. Actually deleting the files … Read more

If you've ever dreamed of sticking all that paperwork on your desk where the sun don't shine, a Japanese machine can turn it all into toilet paper for you.

Appropriately named White Goat, this device designed for the office can take regular letter-size paper or shreds, including that sales report you cursed until you were blue in the face, and transform it into nearly pristine rolls of white tissue.

White Goat was developed by Oriental Co., a small shredder maker based in Kiryu City, north of Tokyo, which says it's the first product of its kind in … Read more

Oral hearings are scheduled to start next month in a court case that could test the limits of manufacturer participation in electronics recycling.

The case pits New York City against tech industry groups the Computer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), which are seeking an injunction to stop the city's proposed electronics recycling program.

In a background conference call on Thursday, supporters of the city's recycling mandate said the notion of "extended producer responsibility," or taking on some of the cost of recycling used electronics, is being put on trial. There is … Read more