When electronics like televisions, computers cell phones and iPods become dated, how should we dispose of them? It's not environmentally friendly to put them in the trash. College of Saint Mary in Omaha offered a green solution on Tuesday.

With the digital transition fast approaching, many people may be investing in newer sets and that means out with the old. The solution is recycling.

The college's students, faculty and staff hope to address environmental issues within the community by raising awareness and working towards a solution by pitching in to make sure electronics end up where they should.

It started with one person wanting to do the right thing for the environment, though this heavy task actually lifted a weight off CSM professor Steve Brewer's shoulders.

"I wish it was easier to recycle things, it's kind of a lot of work, but this was a good chance to do it." He recycled his old computer at the school. "I've got some more stuff here,” said Brewer. “I don't know what you'll take."

The Green Team is a group of about 15 students dedicated to making the world a cleaner, better place to live. To do that, they collect electronics for free, which will be taken to a recycling center.

"It is free,” said Brewer. “Where I live you have to pay to take in old computers and that sort of thing, so I'm saving probably 30 bucks today."

Freshman Diana Torres is a member of the Green Team. "It's important to think about our future and the effects that we're doing, like polluting and wasting."

The recycling center at 44th and Gifford Road in Council Bluffs handles dozens of electronic items and knows the potential dangers if these items are simply thrown out.

"It'll eventually go to the landfill of course and if that landfill would ever leach into our water system, we'd end up with lead and mercury and all those different things in there,” said Shannon Meister at the Council Bluffs Recycling Center.

Lead is behind the screens of older TVs while the newer LCD televisions use mercury. There are also plenty of metals which come out of computers.

"There's a lot of precious metals, there's gold and cadmium, nickel, all those things which it helps if we can pull those out and reuse them, rather than going and drilling or mining for new ones,” said Meister.

The Green Team plans to hold a free recycling event each month to encourage more people to get involved. "I have a whole closet full,” said Brewer. “Actually, I might have something else next month so I hope they keep doing it."

The Council Bluffs Recycling Center does take computer towers and laptops for free. They accept every other kind of electronic for 25 cents a pound. So an 80-pound TV would cost $20 and you're helping the environment.

The city of Omaha won't recycle electronics, but if you go to earth911.com and type in your zip code, a list of available locations will come up.