Rapid advances in technology, coupled with low initial costs has resulted in an ever-increasing surplus of computers and computer parts worldwide. The Environmental Protection Agency of the US estimates that there are 30 to 40 million surplus PC's in the US alone, and that 63 million PC's were either traded for replacements, or simply throw away last year. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other state departments manage and oversee the laws which regulate the disposal of hazardous wastes. The EPA requires that hazardous wastes be handled with extra precaution, and should also disposed at designated facilities. Among the materials that need to be handled with extra care include medical waste, commercially-generated waste, electronic items and components, radioactive materials, ammunition, and other unknown materials. Because most of today s modern landfills are tightly sealed, to protect the environment from possible contamination, they actually inhibit the natural degradation of organic waste materials. For example, if we recycle all of the newspapers we use, we could actually help prolong the use of each landfill, as well as save millions of trees from being cut down. While it s quite rare to find 100 percent recycled cardboard material, most recycling facilities create a blend of both recycled and new material, to make the end-product much sturdier. The packaging may sometimes be identified as using 25% recycled or post-consumer material . How To Recycle Cardboard Before you contact your local recycling facility, first tear or break down all the cardboard boxes you have at home, until they are flat in a stack. Reusing or recycling water means that you re saving money on your water bills, because you re using less of it, and also means that you re actually using less fresh water for watering your lawn, washing your car and washing your clothes, plates and other items. Conserving water, as well as recycling used water, puts less strain on local water treatment facilities, and also makes more fresh water available to communities for drinking, washing and cooking. The Recycling Revolution Is Now picking Up Steam According to recent figures, the United States is considered as the number 1 garbage-producing country in the planet. The Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA, states that the United States has 10,000 municipal and 3,000 urban landfills. The sad thing is that most of these landfills are tightly sealed, to prevent the garbage from leaching and contaminating nearby rivers, lakes, streams or seas.