EcoATM: Recycle Your Technological Waste and Get PAID

If you're one of those people who waits in line at the Apple store the morning a new iPhone is released (guilty), then you probably have an outdated gadget or two lying around. You probably also have no idea what to do with all your e-waste, and you're not alone. 100 million cell phones are trashed each year, not to mention all the improperly recycled computers and mp3 players leaching mercury, lead and arsenic into the ground. But the EcoATM seeks to change all that and throw some cash your way in the process.

Think of the EcoATM like a reverse vending machine. Instead of inserting money, punching in your selection and getting a candy bar (or, in many places now, a new iPod), you insert your old phone or mp3 player and get money in return. The machine has super smart robots inside (our personal term for artificial intelligence) that determine what you've inserted and calculate its worth. To make sure people aren't ripping off cell phones and heading to the nearest EcoATM to make a buck, you're asked to enter some personal information as well. Then you can decide what to do with the cash; donate it to charity to send your phone off to a responsible smelting facility and pocket the cash.

So far, EcoATMs are mainly a West Coast operation, with a few locations popping up in the Midwest. Though according to rep from EcoATM, we should see them start showing up from D.C. up to Boston sometime around August--with 100 of 'em throughout the area by the end of the year (!)

Now excuse us, we've got a line we might need to start standing in...