MS joins Goodwill programme

Microsoft is joining Dell and Goodwill Industries International in their ongoing recycling programme, reports CNET News.

Goodwill, in addition to being a used clothing and furniture repository and store, is also a place where people can drop off their old electronics.

Through a programme started in partnership with Dell in 2004 called Reconnect, participating Goodwill centres allow people to drop off their used computers and related peripherals to be recycled for free.

A poll by ABI Research found 98% of mobile phone users were willing to turn in their older-model handsets to a charity, manufacturer or retail store, but only in exchange for a discount or tax deduction, states NewsFactor.

The same survey found 38% of those polled had recently recycled their phones, but only 5% of those did so while getting nothing in return.

"Many consumers in the US are prepared to help the environment by recycling their old handsets, but only if there is a financial incentive to do so," says ABI's Michael Morgan.

Scientists at one of the world's top climate change institutes have warned world leaders to dramatically step up efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions if they are to achieve their target of limiting global warming to two degrees above pre-industrial levels, says Computing.co.uk.

A team from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany published a report arguing that the emissions reduction pledges accompanying the Copenhagen Accord will fail to meet the agreement's goal of limiting global warming to two degrees centigrade.

The scientists calculated that even if the current emission pledges are met, it would result in a more than 50% chance that warming will exceed three degrees centigrade by the end of the century.