11 December 2007 - Ron Kemp climbs rickety steps to an alcove above a pair of offices in a 16,000-square-foot south Stockton warehouse.

He calls this secret nook “The Museum.” And it is.

Kemp comes back lugging a dusty 1982 Commodore, 2001 series, and clunks it on a desk for curious observers.

It’s one of tens of thousands of defunct computers — some old relics, others just a few years young — that Valley residents and businesses have turned over to Kemp’s company for recycling over the past three years.
This holiday season, tons more waste will be generated when Santa brings new laptops and cell phones, and the old ones become instantly obsolete.

Enough already, some say. Americans’ obsession with sales may be taxing the planet.

Boob tube blues

Back on electronic waste, let’s zero in on one Christmas culprit: televisions.
Officials have said there may be 6 million defunct TVs in California homes and businesses, and perhaps 120 million nationwide.

So what? Well, the glass screens of televisions are laced with lead; heavy metals such as aluminum and copper lurk inside circuit boards and wires.

If they end up in a landfill, all sorts of toxics can escape into the environment. Or, some recyclers take your stuff overseas in search of cheap labor for recycling or reuse; there, people are exposed to hazardous waste — a “digital dump,” says the watchdog group Basel Action Network, based in Seattle.

Kemp’s company, Onsite Electronics Recycling has a contract with the county. It breaks down old electronics at its Stockton warehouse before shipping them off to recyclers.

Onsite plans to collect old electronics from the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 12 at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. It will also accept foam packaging. Events are also being planned for other parts of the county. Call (209) 468-3066.

So much stuff

“I think the time has come for all of us to look at what we’re buying and what we really need,” said Alison Hudson, solid waste program manager with San Joaquin County.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates that between Thanksgiving and the new year, an extra million tons of waste are generated nationwide each week.

It’s not just the gifts themselves. Thousands of miles of packaging ribbon alone are tossed in the garbage.

The board has a few suggestions to make the holidays greener:

• Buy gifts made from recycled products, from flip-flops made of recycled tires to four-door armoires made from demolished homes in Java. Check out the state’s RecycleStore (www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Recyclestore) or the Green Gift Guide (www.greengiftguide.com).
  
  
• Consider gift certificates or tickets to events.
  
  
• Buy gifts that use rechargeable power sources rather than batteries.
  
  
• Try unique ways to package gifts. Stick toys into pillow cases, wrap kitchenware in dish towels, or hang earrings and bracelets on the Christmas tree itself.

Another option

Maybe a donation to a worthy cause is the way to go. That’s what Debra Amador suggests on her Web site, www.buyless crap.com.

“I’m a shopper, and I always will be. I’m a human being,” said Amador, who lives in the Bay Area. “We’re not anti-shopping. Just shop less.”

Her site offers links to organizations fighting AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer, to name just a few.