Why You Can't Even Give Away Tube TVs Anymore

The Washington Post has a great write-up outlining the fall of the tube television set and the difficulties upgraders are now facing as they try and replace their old sets with new digital ones. Apparently "recession has driven commodity prices so low that the material inside the TV is worth less than the cost of recycling it." The latest Craigslist disinterest trend and possible options for recycling your old clunker, after the jump.

The Washington Post writes:

"Carroll offered his TV free on Craigslist and got some interest, but no solid taker. If nothing clicks for Carroll and Johnson, their options include the dump, which neither prefers, and Goodwill, which still accepts donations of TVs if they are digital-ready. Goodwill no longer takes models lacking a coaxial cable connection. And there is recycling. In Montgomery, where Johnson lives, the government pays e-Structors, an Elkridge company, 7.2 cents a pound to pick up clunker TVs and strip them for parts."

If your city's still in the green, you can look around for TV donation and recycling programs such as the one in DC, which offers it for free. You can also take a gander at our roundup of Electronic Recycling Options for even more ways to try and get rid of that tube TV.

Know of a good electronic program that's cheap or better yet - free? Let us know below!

[Via TV Snob via Washington Post]

[Image by Will Merydith licensed by CC]

Comments (3)

best buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat149900050025
$10 for tv's under 32" but you get a $10 best buy gift card
(over 32" it's free, other electronics free too)

posted by mooseter on September 30th 2009 at 9:25am
view mooseter's profile

sorry, an error with my last comment... over 32" they don't take with this program. they will take one over 32" if you purchase a new tv though.

posted by mooseter on September 30th 2009 at 9:28am
view mooseter's profile

Very easy way to get rid of your old TV's. FREECYCLE!!

http://www.freecycle.org is their website.

I got rid of 2 still working televisions in a day. A lot of emails had the question, "Can I hook up a gaming system to this?" (answer was yes!)

Great way to recycle your stuff that probably wouldn't sell at a yard sale!

posted by Jannarama on October 1st 2009 at 12:07pm
view Jannarama's profile