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I couldn't let the week pass without a mention of CES. But since there's been plenty of coverage of the gadgets, I wanted to instead mention a great post on PSFK calling out the electronics industry for their negative impact on the environment. An excerpt:

Ironically, CES says that it is reducing its own impact on the environment wherever it can - but it doesn’t seem to register that it’s actually contributing to a greater problem than the number of nonrecycled water bottles left over at the end of the show. The fact is that the CES is another gory broadcast of all the products we don’t really need and that we’ll have to replace very soon. It’s fueled by the blogs like Engadget and magazines like Wired that hype the consumption of this plastic-metal and ignore any modern notions towards sustainability. Wired sadly continues to talk double standards - their magazines praise 100mpg cars, their retail projects sell 21mpg cars and their coverage of the CES with 50+ posts, Wired fails to review the show with any eco-concern that can often be found in the pages of its magazine.

It's difficult to say why electronics have been immune to the standards that are now being applied to everything else we buy. The momentum of the digital information age has made the primary concern about functionality, speed and look. The environmental impact of making each model better than its predecessor becomes secondary when a new sexy, sleek device begins being marketed to replace the one you bought less than a year ago. Even as Apple began to re-ascend with the iPod and take their position as an innovation leader, the impact of the toxins used in their devices was overlooked until Greenpeace was able to initialize a Greener Apple. And, to the point made by PSFK, Wired hasn't exactly challenged anyone to make a change in this realm.

Obviously, there are production processes that can be implemented for waste reduction by device manufacturers. But another problem is that companies and retailers do not make it easy to recycle your old devices. I make an effort to find a place for every old device that has been updated, but it usually requires me going out of my way. Sites like Second Rotation and BuyMyTronics are already accepting old devices for cash.

One way to encourage recycling and increase your profile among environmentally-conscious consumers is to offer x% off a new cell phone or plasma TV when they turn in old devices. I'm sure the companies will be smart enough to adjust percentages to ensure they are making a profit -- 5% off a plasma TV is a lot different than 5% off of a cell phone -- but the reality is that they are creating goodwill among environmentally-conscious customers while getting devices that they can reuse/re-furbish and sell back to the consumer, all while reducing the negative impact of their product. Imagine if recycling an old laptop was as easy as redeeming a soda can.

Update: Over the weekend, the NY Times Magazine reported on eWaste in Afterlife of Cellphones.