Garbage isn't the first thing that comes to mind when we think of climate-change offenders. But the excess trash generated during the holidays means excess greenhouse gases: Decomposition in landfills produces methane, incineration produces carbon dioxide, and the transportation of waste emits carbon dioxide through fuel use.

The EPA estimates that if Americans cut the amount of waste we generate to 1990 levels, we would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 18 million metric tons. In 2005, recycling items instead of sending them to landfills helped avoid 49.9 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions.

That doesn't just go for office paper and aluminum cans. Electronic gadgets filling stockings this year will send up to 85 percent of the discarded devices they replace to the dump. Electronic waste that is improperly disposed of can cause toxic substances to leach into soil and water supplies. Even when we recycle or donate technotrash, parts can get resold and end up in developing countries, where people desperate for a dollar or two burn it to extract the last dregs of valuable metal and wiring, damaging their own health and sending toxic chemicals and particulates into the air, soil and water.

The Basel Action Network, an organization that focuses on stopping the export and dumping of toxic waste, publishes a list of "e-stewards" — responsible e-cyclers who have signed a pledge and been vetted by the network for "sustainable and socially just electronics recycling."

No New Mexico e-cycler is on the list yet, but network coordinator Jim Puckett recommended that New Mexicans take old computers, monitors and cell phones to Staples, one of the national chains that accepts e-waste. "Staples, from what I know, is very conscientious," Puckett said, though the chain is not yet on the list, either.

Staples charges $10 for recycling computers and monitors, said Mario Mente, sales manager. The Santa Fe store does not take televisions but accepts printers, used ink cartridges and other peripherals, offering $3 coupons for HP, Dell and Lexmark ink cartridges.

Traci Phillips, co-owner of Natural Evolution, which collects the electronics recycling from Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station and several other New Mexico sites, said the company is looking into the Basel Action Network program. The Buckman Road transfer station takes any e-cycling with a chip.

Many corporations also have takeback programs for computers, cellular phones and other products. Puckett said Sony is the only major corporation to have qualified for Basel's list of e-stewards. Sony takes old laptops of other brands as well as its own and offers credit for them, depending on what type of processor the computer has and what condition it's in. Go to www.sonystyle.com or call 877-439-2795. Other electronics manufacturers have programs of varying degrees — some take just a few items, some require payment, some do it for free. IBM, 1-888-746-7426; HP, 1-800-340-2445; Dell (which also has a donation program for working computers), 800-915-3355; and Apple, 1-800-767-2775, are among the other manufacturers that take back some of their products.

Other ways to avoid the landfill: Many other items we may not think of as traditionally recyclable can find new life, even if they're too far gone to be donated or resold. Local businesses put a variety of items to new use, which is more effective than recycling because it avoids the manufacture of new products. Running Hub, for example, collects old shoes of any type or condition, said owner John Lumley. Some are repaired and distributed at homeless shelters, and Kenyan runners who train in Santa Fe take the rest for distribution when they return to Kenya. Lenscrafters will repair your old eyeglasses for distribution in developing nations. Other items, from construction material to antifreeze to packing materials, can be recycled or repaired and reused by local businesses or transfer stations. To find out more, check www.recyclenewmexico.com or www.earth911.org, which list a multitude of materials and sites to help lighten the load the next time you take the garbage out.

Contact Mona Blaber at mblaber@sfnewmexican.com.