Two of the newest, and perhaps most prolific, electronic devices of the last 10 years are the ipod and iphone. The ipod and the iphone provide users with thousands of songs at the touch of a bottom in a device that can conveniently fit in your pocket. Yet, this same device that provides thousands of songs can spend thousands of years in a landfill. Apple has sold over 180 million ipods to date, resulting in a staggering e-waste problem, especially since Apple has specifically designed its products to be both disposable and replaceable only by another Apple device.

In 2001, the introduction of the ipod was coupled by iTunes, a software program which formats and organizes one's music specifically for an Apple device. Though iTunes can use multiple file formats for songs, the program most often saves songs in a protected AAC format. Thus, when one's ipod breaks or the battery dies, much of the music on iTunes can only be accessible via portable device by purchasing another Apple product, and although Apple advertisements claim that the ipod will last for several years, the battery life of an ipod is quite short. The lithium battery in an ipod can lose more than half of its capacity after 13 months of regular use. The result is less usage time without recharging. Replacing an old battery costs $50-$100 and requires the user to clear all music on the ipod, so many users simply buy a new one and the old ipod becomes another piece of e-waste, highly disposable and yet un-biodegradable.

As responsible citizens we must learn how to recycle a used ipod and help prevent e-waste in the United States. There are several sites that offer to recycle your used ipod. However, recycling an ipod may make you feel good about what you are doing for the environment and for health and sanitation issues within this country, but it does not usually do much for your pocket book. The good news: it is easy to sell an ipod, broken or not. Essentially you can get cash to recycle your ipod. Many have opted to sell an ipod. In my opinion, this is the best solution because it is easy, fast, and beneficial to your budget. There are several sites you can go to sell an ipod. The most popular sites are ebay and craigslist, although both are the least secure and most troublesome if you want to sell an ipod. I would not recommend craigslist or ebay to sell an ipod, because both sites offer little-to-any seller security. Also, by the time you pay ebay for all of the fees involved in the sale, your profit margin will have significantly decreased.

When I went to sell my ipod touch, I went to several websites to get a quote. When you are reviewing websites, the first thing you will want to look for is the overall look of the site. If the graphics and layout of the site look cheap, then the website is most likely not legitimate. You also want to look for any business logos that flag the site as a trusted business source, such as the e-trust and veri-sign logos, as well as an explicit privacy policy. After browsing several sites, I finally found a website that offered me the easiest and fastest process to sell an ipod. They also quoted me the highest out of all the sites. The website, cashforiphones.com, offered to pay me for my broken iphone and my ipod touch. The website itself has been around since 2002 and it is one the most trusted companies online as a place to sell an ipod or iphone. The process was fast and easy. I got a free instant quote to sell my ipod. After the quote, the company sent me a pre-paid envelope and I placed my ipod inside. All I had to do was place my ipod inside the box and place the shipping label on the box. A check was mailed to me upon receipt of my ipod, or in about a week.

In my opinion, there is no excuse to not recycle a used or broken ipod because you can easily get paid to recycle it. The more people that throw their used ipods away, the bigger a problem e-waste will become. Since the ipod is neither environmentally-friendly nor reusable, the best solution is to sell you ipod rather than throw it away.