Replacing Your TV?

Stuart Kaufman and his mom Stephanie are shopping for a new TV, and they're not sure yet what they're gonna do with their old analog TV set.
"We were thinking of taking it to Goodwill or leaving it out in front to see if somebody takes it," said Stephanie Kaufman of West Palm Beach, a resident of Century Village.
There may be a lot of folks like them out there, getting a new TV.
That means a lot of sets could end up in the landfill.
The Super Bowl is just days away, and fans may be buying new TVs for that.
And because of the nationwide switch from analog to digital signals February 17, some people may be under the impression their old TV will no longer work and they'll need a new one.
Of course, all they need is a converter box and they can still use their old TV. But they may not realize that.
"There may be people buying new TVs that don't need to," said Robert Madden, director of Hazardous Waste Services with the Solid Waste Authority.
The fact remains, that many people may be about to spring for a new TV set, which has the Solid Waste Authority a little nervous.
"Worst case scenario is we get inundated with TVs and have a pile of TVs in the landfill. That would not be good. That's not what we're looking for," Madden said.
An old television contains certain metals that can be hazardous if they end up in a landfill and get into the water supply. A TV is also big and bulky and can take up a lot of precious landfill space.  It is not against the law to put the old TV set on the curb with your trash.  It will be hauled away and buried at the landfill with the rest of the garbage.  It is not broken up or crushed. It's just buried.
You can imagine that thousands of old analog TVs in the landfill could take up mountains of room.  And the landfill is filling up quickly anyway.
"It's a potential problem," Madden said.
Experts say the last thing they want is to have these TV sets ending up in the county landfill, which will be at full capacity by the year 2024.
The Solid Waste Authority is running newspaper ads and television spots, urging people to bring their old analog television sets to one of six drop-off sites in Palm Beach County. The old sets will be recycled. For a list of the locations, go to www.swa.org.