This is a responsible thing for Apple to do. I have a 2002 iPod that is useless now due to heavy use. I use a Shuffle now. Someday I will turn in my first wife... er I mean iPod.

That's fucking awesome. Why can't every company do this.

Bravo. Too many companies put the burden on the buyer to recycle old hardware, and as a result people don't want to have to pay to haul the stuff away. Also, often local trash haulers and recycling collectors will point the finger at one another and say that the other is responsible for collecting, say, that old monitor -- and so eventually it ends up dumped somewhere.

If more resellers would offer no-cost disposal methods and provide dropoff or pickup or return shipping for old goods, more computers, TVs, and other items with hazardous materials in them would be properly destroyed and their components melted down for re-use.

Apple's offer of a 10% discount on a replacement makes the idea of recycling even more appealing than it already is. I'm guessing that a number of people will voluntarily recycle even without the incentive.

I ship back used color laser printer consumables to HP for recycling -- I don't get a cash incentive for doing it, but they make it easy to do by providing a return shipping label and instructions. Even if I weren't an environmental science degree holder (which I am!), I'd do this.

Unfortunately, not enough companies realize the value of conservation and realizing that their products don't last forever. If only so much of the 'burden' of doing the right thing wasn't on the end user ...

Thanks, Apple!

And thanks to the activists who helped bring this about. You've just helped with the recycling of most portable music players sold

Good work--and handled when it SHOULD be handled... before a big problem develops.

And 10% off a new iPod? Planet, schmanet, that ain't pocket change on an iPod Photo

(I hope nobody is recycling their iPod Photo already!)

The cheapskate in me has to ask...would that 10% off still apply when buying at the Education price? I figure it's gotta be but does anyone know how Apple has handled these sort of discounts in the past?

I don't want to get rid of my old 2g but, imagine a photo for like $288!

That's perfect!

And they did it on World Environment Day too! (which I'm guessing was just a coincidence)

Yeah they should give you your education dicount as well.

All companies should recycle, have environmentally offices/manufacturing as well as morally responsible employment. Unfortunately most do not. Apple is making a step in the right direction.

I wouldn't bother thanking the activists -- even if you're suggesting the right thing, if you piss people off by suggesting it the wrong way you make them loathe to do it.

Besides -- what makes this a sell is the 10% discount. I can't imagine turning in an iPod for recycling for free. I could see doing it for $30 off my next one, though.

Why not? If something is broken, you'd throw it away or stash it somewhere and never pull it out again. Then years from now when you clean out your closet or whatever you throw it in the 'trash' box without giving it a second thought, or try to recycle it and find the recycling program ended years ago.

What loss is there in discarding something by giving it to a recycler who will properly dispose of the hazardous materials in the battery, PCBs, drive, screen, etc., instead of just throwing it in the trash where it will just be dumped into a landfill?

Because I'm not going to just throw out an iPod. It cost too much!

No, the only way I'd throw it out is if for some reason it was urgent that I throw it out <em>on the spot</em> or some other spur of the moment decision to purge it from my life, in which case I'd be very unlikely to have time to investigate recycling options.

That 10% off is smart. It means I can make a decision that benefits both myself and the environment: "I'm done with this, and I can get something for it!"

Call me silly if you want, but I suspect a lot of people think this way. We try to be good, but it doesn't always happen. Rewarding us for being good makes it more likely we'll behave.