“Once the recycling is happening in a developing country, there's a reason it was exported, and the reason is economic: because they're trying to avoid the cost of doing it properly,” Puckett said.

Instead of using high-tech shredders and uniforms, workers at unethical recycling facilities simply smash electronics open to gain access to the valuable and recyclable commodities. This process releases mercury and other hazardous materials into their breathing space and the soil. Then, the facilities often burn in open pits whatever isn’t reclaimed — which causes leftover substances like flame retardants to turn into toxic pollution for the surrounding environment and adjacent workers.

This means we all need to be vigilant about where we’re recycling our products. It’s not enough to just trust where your city government sends your e-waste; recently, BAN discovered that the recycler contracted by the City of Houston was ending up in these toxic pits.

Luckily, Puckett reassured me that there is a solution. BAN has a newly strengthened certification called the E-Stewards certification, which it awards to recyclers who don’t send recycling overseas to “smash and bash” operations. Puckett also recommends checking out Greenpeace’s electronics report card, as well as the organization EPEAT, to see which organizations use the most reclaimed materials while making electronics in the first place. I was excited to learn that according to both organizations, Apple’s iPhone beats out almost all other manufacturers, although its “green” processes certainly still have their flaws.

“Before we created the E-stewards program, we actually told people to hang onto their items, to not recycle them, until we had a solution,” Puckett said. Now that the program exists, “We stand by it. It does look after your data, and looks after the environment, and gets those commodities back into the recycling stream, so we have a circular economy. It’s far more efficient and far better for the environment in the long run.”

Armed with this information, it was time to dive into the drawer. I’m proud to say I’m more cable-free than ever before, though I couldn’t bring myself to part ways with my digital camera, which maybe someday I’ll use again.

I also learned a few things along the way. Here’s what I found out for recycling e-waste from lightbulbs to batteries and beyond.