TOXTAGtm FAQs
I DON'T WANT TO READ ALL THIS...CAN YOU JUST SUM IT UP FOR ME?
Sure thing. When you stick a ToxtagTM on your cell phone, your Blackberry, or your iPod, you aren't just neutralizing its carbon footprint, you are telling the world that your portable device is headed for a happy ending: we'll ethically recycle
it for you--no landfills, no incinerators, no dumping in foreign
countries...Which, when you think about it, is a pretty sweet deal for
ten bucks. That's it. Had enough? Click here to buy yourself some ToxtagsTM.
Want the long version? Keep right on reading:
WHAT ARE TOXTAGSTM ?
Toxtags are a way to free yourself and future generations from the carbon footprint and toxic legacy of your electronic devices.
Invented by a Dad who dreamed of a toxic-free world for his daughters, ToxtagsTM fuel a large scale effort to neutralize the carbon footprint and toxic legacy of used electronic devices by diverting used electronics from conventional waste streams, and using the revenue to ethically recycle used electronic devices, support new renewable energy projects, lobby goverments for stronger e-waste laws and climate change policies, and help schoolchildren develop solutions to the challenges posed by living in a toxic world.
HOW DOES A TOXTAGTM HELP TO CLEAN UP ELECTRONIC WASTE?
The proceeds from the sale of every ToxtagTM help us to divert more used consumer electronics from landfills, incinerators, exporters, and unethical recyclers, resulting in a healthier world for all of us.
This is accomplished in a few different ways:
First, every time someone buys a cell phone/wireless device/MP3 Player ToxtagTM, we give them a prepaid mailing label so that they can send their used device straight to our ethical electronics recycler.This prevents the release of dangerous toxics from used electronics into our world due to unethical landfill-ing, incineration,
and exporting practices.
(When discarded cell phones, wireless devices, MP3 players, computers, monitors, televisions--together known as "e-waste"--are tipped into landfills, incinerated, or are
shipped to other countries with weak or nonexistent environmental laws,
the heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and hazardous materials in these
devices contaminate our land air and water, and make people and
animals sick.)
Second, we hold "E-Waste Events" in U.S. communities to collect larger types of used electronics--like computers, monitors, and TVs--and with the help of donations made at those events, safely and sustainably deliver these larger items to our ethical electronics recycling partner.
Third, we use ToxtagTM sales revenue to lobbying the United States government to
ratify United Nations Conventions designed to protect the world
from the toxic legacy of e-waste, implement policies designed to combat global climate change, and develop legislation to compel electronics
manufacturers to "close the e-waste loop" by instituting ethical recycling and take-back
programs for the electronic devices they sell.
HOW DOES A TOXTAGTM HELP TO COMBAT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?
Every time we sell a ToxtagTM, we purchase carbon offset certificates to neutralize the carbon footprint of that particular electronic device--helping to slow global warming.
We use ToxtagTM and e-waste event revenue to lobby every level of U.S. governments for policies designed to meaningfully combat Global Climate Change.
HOW DOES A TOXTAGTM HELP TO CLEAN UP TOXICS?
The biggest contributor of toxics to U.S. ecosystems is the mining industry. By recycling the metals in found electronic devices, we slow the demand for these metals, which makes mining for these metals less profitable.
By lobbying the federal government to rewrite the 1872 General Mining Law, we hope to change mining in the United States to reflect our interest in protecting the natural environment.
HOW CAN A TOXTAGTM HELP ME TO ETHICALLY RECYCLE MY ELECTRONIC DEVICE?
Every time we sell a ToxtagTM, we give the buyer a prepaid mailing label so that they can send their electronic devive to our ethical electronics recycler at the end of its useful life.
WHY SHOULD I BUY A TOXTAGTM?
When you slap a ToxtagTM
on your cell phone or iPod, you are letting others know that you are doing
your part to help clean up e-waste, combat Global Climate Change, and make the world a healthier
place for future generations.
Your purchase of ToxtagsTM also supports the ethical re-use and recycling of used electronics, by creating markets for these items and the raw materials they contain. This has two major benefits:
First, your ToxtagTM purchase offsets the dangerous environmental impacts of landfilling, incinerating, or improperly recycling electronic devices. By properly recycling components that have reached the end of their useful lives, valuable raw materials are recovered, air, and land, and water pollution are reduced, global climate change is slowed, and the Earth and all the life on it is protected from toxic compounds that might have escaped into the environment.
Second, ToxtagTM purchases help fund a lobbying campaign designed to get the U.S. to ratify the United Nations Basel and Stockholm Conventions and to rewrite the 1872 General Mining Law —all of which would help protect citizens and the environment from toxics.
Finally, ToxtagTM stickers offer you a way to show that, at least in a small way, you are working to minimize the carbon footprint and toxic legacy of your everyday accessories.
WHO IS BEHIND THE TOXTAGTM INITIATIVE? HOW DO I KNOW THAT YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU CLAIM TO BE DOING?
The ToxtagTM was invented by Christopher Swain, a father of two. Swain hopes the ToxtagTM will be an economic engine that helps to fuel the recovery and clean-up of the world’s electronic waste, and that protects all peoples and ecosystems from the toxics they might otherwise be released into the environment.
. At present, The Healthy World Workshop, Inc. (HWW) is the only entity licensed to sell the ToxtagTM. Every year, HWW will submit to an independent audit of its e-waste recovery, and carbon offset operations verifying the quantities and disposition of every used electronic device that it diverted from the waste stream, and every carbon offset it purchased. Once these audits happen, this information will be available on this Web Site.
HWW's electronics recycler has signed the Basel Action Network Pledge of True Stewardship—guaranteeing that they are acting in accordance with the standards set by the United Nations for e-waste handling, and recycling. Their ethical reccyler has also agreed to submit to independent inspections and audits, and to reveal the downstream purchasers of all raw materials recovered from its recycling operations.
ToxtagTM revenues are used to fund HWW programs designed to protect the earth’s ecosystems, reduce global climate change, lessen air, and land, and water pollution, protect people and animals from persistent organic pollutants, and to produce educational offerings for schoolchildren along these lines.
WHY ISN'T THE HEALTHY WORLD WORKSHOP A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION?
HWW activities include large amounts of lobbying and political action, so by law, we cannot be structured as a 501c3 nonprofit organization. HWW is an employee-owned, for-profit, Massachusetts corporation that seeks to create a for-profit business models designed to make our World a healthier place.
Got it?
Click here to buy yourself some ToxtagsTM.
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