Good point. Honestly not sure, and probably have no way to tell, how many might have been fine before they were set out. I just know that by the time I come across them, most have seen better days.

The inverter has definitely come in handy. Testing roadside appliances wasn’t its original purpose, lol, but it definitely does a good job of it. I usually just check if they power up and, in the case of TVs/monitors, that the screen isn’t cracked or horribly glitching. If it gets that far, I’ll load it up and take my chances with it.

(Luckily?) most of the ones I see out on the curb are usually physically broken (usually the panel is smashed). I have an inverter in my car and will just plug them in right there to test them out, lol. I think I’ve only successfully rescued one good one recently.

I wouldn’t say it’s a valid reason to throw them out, but the 32" LCD TV I found and brought home was pretty energy inefficient (110 watts) compared to the 32" LCD I got a couple years ago (17 watts). It’s an older model Samsung and has all the input type you could ever want, so I set it up in my basement with all my retro game systems hooked to it.

I’ve tried so hard to go plastic free but absolutely fricking can’t; it’s everywhere and in everything. Even minimizing it continues to be a challenge. I refuse to give up, but I’ve had to lower my expectations considerably.

Like Transporter Room 3 said: our individual plastic usage is probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the waste generated by industry. :sigh: