Not Quite the Electric Yarmulke

We're developing another kind of junk drawer at our house that I suspect is just as ubiquitous as the original.

This new junk drawer is filled with strictly electronic flotsam: Cell phone and video camera chargers, an old portable CD player, a digital camera that saves its pictures on 3 1/2 inch floppy discs and, our latest addition, a Palm IIIc complete with charger and computer connection cable. We used to have two very old cell phones in there, but they've disappeared. I vaguely recall giving them away to some cell phone recycling outfit, but it's more likely than not that they were simply transported to Deseret Industries, with some of our other outmoded detritus.

Now, we've been diligent in keeping our electronic refuse to a minimum. Older computers have been passed on to family members. We have a complete computer system, including scanner, printer and LCD monitor, in storage, just in case something we've got goes south. At about this time last year, I replaced the battery door on our old digital camera, rather than simply tossing the camera. (I say old camera because we did get a new one at Christmas, but we'll keep the old one as a backup.) So I can feel fairly confident that the stuff we've outgrown isn't contributing to pollution and illness among scavengers in Nigeria or China.