Save your TV from the digital graveyard
Now the digital switchover has begun, why not reuse your old TV set and give it a new lease of life.
The switchover affects TVs which receive signal from an aerial. After switchover, transmitters will send a digital rather than an analogue signal. This began in Warwickshire with Stratford on April 6 and will continue with Nuneaton and Bedworth on August 17 followed by Warwick, Rugby and North Warwickshire on September 7.
Old analogue sets can be retained as a backup for the household to watch DVD and VHS films, hooked up to a games console or converted to receive digital signals with the aid of an increasingly affordable set-top box.
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Economy and chair of the Warwickshire Waste Partnership, said: “Some people may think the digital switchover means the end of the road for their old telly and time to consign it to the TV graveyard.
“But many television sets which do not have a digital tuner can either be put to another use, or adapted for digital TV with an affordable set-top box.
“Residents should first try to give their faithful old goggle box a new lease of life before they bring it to one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres.”
If you cannot adapt your old TV or put it to another use, it can be taken along to any of Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres. To find your nearest site and check opening hours visit the website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hwrc
Some of Warwickshire’s voluntary and community organisations will also gladly accept unwanted working electrical items, which are inspected, checked and resold – often with a guarantee. To find you local reuse scheme log onto http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/reuse
Residents can also try offering their unwanted electrical items through online reuse networks such as Community Freebay http://www.communityfreebay.co.uk Freegle http://www.freegle.org.uk or Freecycle http://www.freecycle.org