After we lose our tv signals in Feb of 2009, none of our tv sets will be worth anything. Most will go to the garbage, but I am looking for creative ways to reuse them. This is a recycling project for our local boy scout troop. If anyone has any ideas for using tv sets to recycle, please reply with them. There are at least 20 more troops doing this same project, so the more ideas the better.
It you TV set is working now, it might diminish in value, but it will not be worth zero.
You could, with the government's assistance coupons, buy a converter box for about $40 (after the coupon discount) and see a perfectly good picture if you can get a good signal from your UHF antenna. I've already done this and it works fine. The picture is not high definition, but it is from a digital receiver and you have a choice of letterbox format, cropped (like regular tv), or squished. It is a very clear signal. The converter box automatically gives you stereo audio outputs even if your old TV was just really old and just mono.
There are more off-air channels available.
If you don't feel like doing this, buy a true HDTV. Right now they start at $500 - 600 and will probably be cheaper (but maybe be in short supply) during this year's Holiday season, (just 2 months before the changeover in 2009). It will take inputs from Cable, A satellite receiver, an HDTV DVR, or just the (free) off-air digital signal from your local TV stations.
You can also use or sell your old sets to be security monitors for CCTV. Composite video will be around for a long time.
What the f*ck. Do you work for a tv store and hope to make a sale from this reply, or didn't you even bother to read the original message? Buy this, buy that, bla bla bla.....
The question was about recycling, not buying a hdtv and by now everyone knows about converters since they show it on tv every 5 minutes.
As far as the original question, back when I was much younger we took old console tv cabinets, stripped out the electronics and made book shelves and storage cabinets out of the old tvs. I dont think the newer plastic sets would be much use in that way, but they could be used as a picture frame. There are also recycling places around the country that take old electronics and actually recycle them, as well as reselling computer cards and drives. Scouts could collect this stuff from elderly people and take it to the recyclers.
I don't know if this will help but, campers don't usually pick up a signal anyway so when they have tv's the camper it's hooked up to a vcr or dvd. Therefore you could sell them to people with campers and make some money for the troop. Lou
No one needs to dump those TVs. Most are not getting their TV from direct transmission, and those that do can get a converter or two. I have seen them priced cheap enough that you can get them for free with the free government coupon.
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