I buy a lot of gadgets. From digital cameras to the exceeding number of peripherals and accessories needed to play video games, the amount of money I spend on technology is second only to the expense of my education or, perhaps, food. Whether I truly need all this technology is up for debate, but that is for another time. As society progresses, people are buying more and more technology, so what are we to do with the growing amount of electronic waste?

Recently my digital camcorder decided to call it quits. After learning that the warranty expired six months ago, I was left with the predicament concerning the disposal of its remains.

This problem was much easier to solve in junior high. Newly departed electronics would be met with a baseball bat or hammer in my backyard. I suppose teenage angst or fear of robot revolution created this need to further destroy broken technology. Anyone who has seen videos of the robot who learned to flip pancakes on YouTube can relate to my fear of an eventual robotic uprising — it starts with breakfast food, but the systematic takeover of Earth will soon follow.

However, things are not as simple as they were when I was 13, so I decided to look for an alternative. After considering simply throwing the camcorder in the dumpster, I realized this would be a bad idea. Everyone knows it’s important to manage waste, but our growing dependence on technology is creating new problems. Reports by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency state that electronic waste is increasing at three times the rate of other municipal waste. However, it’s possible that many Americans are unaware of this because a large amount of our e-waste is shipped over to Asia.

Electronics contain a number of recyclable materials including aluminum, copper and polyethylene. According to the Environmental Media Association, e-waste only represents 2 percent of trash in the United States, but it accounts for 70 percent of overall toxic waste. It may seem like common sense that electronics often contain hazardous materials that should be recycled, but I don’t think it’s an issue people consider very often. According the EMA, every year we generate approximately 50 million tons of e-waste, and only 10 percent of it will be recycled.

This makes sense because most of our education about recycling and waste takes place during elementary school. Recycling cans and bottles is covered well enough, but I don’t remember being instructed that the Freon in refrigerators makes them hazardous to throw out. Education about waste management needs to evolve with our increasingly plugged-in society.

There are a number of things you can do to help reduce the 180,000 pounds of hazardous waste produced at Iowa State each year, many of which are less annoying than printing off class syllabi yourself (making students print them does not magically save paper). The Iowa State website, has links to a number of resources where students can learn how to properly dispose of or recycle electronics, including drop-off locations.

Regardless of the number of available programs, results will depend on the level of student involvement.