Use Craigslist and watch "Story of Stuff"

Craigslist is a great way to re-use your products. You can either give away something for free, or charge a few bucks for it. If someone picks up this product that you don't have a use for anymore, then you get two happy parties. By giving away or selling your older products, you might get a few bucks, but more importantly you'll also prevent a new product from being purchased and starting the wasteful cycle again.

This being said, you sometimes have to pay for using Craigslist. I recently gave away a computer monitor (because someone left a better one in the recycling room at my old apartment). The guy who took the monitor had no phone manners whatsoever. When he came to pick it up, he showed up with three other gangsta looking dudes. He took the monitor without saying thank you. I felt like I was owed that. That is how I paid for using Craigslist.

Oh well, hopefully that monitor is getting used. Most people would throw it out because they just got their bran new flat screen LCD. You can also recycle these things, but you have to make special arrangements or drive the electronic equipment to the recycling center. I did this once with an obsolete scanner. I was surprised to see several "old" computer monitors in many crates. They looked quite useful, along with the computers that accompanied them. I just hope that this electronics recycling system is viable and that those electronics materials get used again.

Some other sites recommended by First Gate Blogger that are similar to Craigslist which I haven't yet used:
http://www.kijiji.com/
http://www.freecycle.org/

I highly recommend watching the following flash video:

http://storyofstuff.com/

It's a graspable concept of how materials are produced, sold, and thrown out in our current society.