Playing spot the appliance in your bathroom: How many electrical or electronic appliances can you see?
Have you ever thought about everything in the bathroom that is powered from the mains or runs on a rechargeable or standard battery? Taking a quick look around my bathroom, I see more than 20 electrical or electronic appliances, including LED spotlights and an illuminated make-up mirror. So I ask myself: Do I actually need so many appliances, or should I take some to be recycled?
When you walk into your bathroom, the first thing you’ll probably do is flip the light switch on. In my case, that means six LED spotlights on the ceiling illuminating straight away. There is also a light on the mirror frame and two lights that come on when the mirror cabinet is opened. Yes, it might surprise you, but light switches and lights such as LED spotlights on the ceiling or in the mirror cabinet are electrical or electronic appliances too, just like electric toothbrushes, electric razors, electronic scales, hairdryers and those elegant electric heated rails on which we leave our bath towels to dry each day. Several of these appliances previously got by without electricity or batteries, but like many other appliances in our households, they now only work with electricity. Some of us might also have built-in loudspeakers in our bathrooms, and let’s not forget all those remote controls, blood pressure monitors, electronic curling irons and electric nail files.
Incognito electronics
In some appliances, the electronic parts or batteries are so well hidden that we only recognise the appliances as electrical or electronic when we examine them closely or think about how the appliance actually works. So before you go and play spot the appliance in your bathroom, why not take a look at our features list first? We have put together five features to help you recognise electrical and electronic appliances.
Spot the appliance in my bathroom
Here’s what I found in my bathroom: one electric towel rail, four electric toothbrushes, one hairdryer, one epilator, two electric razors, hair clippers, six LED spotlights, one LED light frame on the mirror, one electric switch for light and power in the mirror cabinet, one remote control for the electric blinds on the window, one remote control for the music, scales, one blood pressure monitor and one fitness tracker with integrated heart rate monitor. How many appliances can you spot in your bathroom?
Get rid of duplicate, faulty or outdated appliances
When I look at the list of appliances in my bathroom above, I wonder why there are four electric toothbrushes on it. One would certainly be enough. After all, the heads with the bristles can be replaced in no time at all. I haven’t touched the blood pressure monitor for years, and the fitness tracker with integrated heart rate monitor is very out of date. And why does my partner have two electric razors in the cabinet? These are all duplicate, faulty or outdated appliances that actually should have been recycled a long time ago. What’s stopping me?
Putting valuable raw materials back into circulation
Now, while household appliances such as coffee machines, food processors and steam irons are increasingly available as second-hand products on Tutti.ch and Ricardo.ch, no one wants to purchase a used electric razor or a sweaty fitness tracker due to hygiene concerns. We would also rather do without an electronic foot massage bath than buy it second-hand at auction. That’s why we should take the time to consider if we truly need hygiene or wellness products before making a purchase in the first place – even if the appliances don’t cost much. After all, each of these appliances contains valuable raw materials that are better off in the materials cycle than sitting unused in the bathroom or lying broken in the far corner of a built-in cabinet.
Get on the ball and recycle!
Instead of hoarding your unused hygiene and wellness items at home, it’s better to recycle them – even if you feel guilty because your teenage daughter has only used her electronic curling irons three times and the new massager you wanted for Christmas was a flop. The less you delay in disposing of your electrical or electronic appliances, the quicker the recyclable materials will be returned to the materials cycle and the greater the likelihood that they can be reused for other appliances. By doing so, you are making an important contribution to our circular economy and helping to reduce the mining of primary resources.
How to dispose of small electrical or electronic appliances discreetly
While playing spot the appliance in your bathroom, you may have discovered small electrical or electronic appliances that you would rather not dispose of in a shop or at a public SENS collection point. But don’t worry. As easy and simple as it is to order a vibrator or masturbation aid from online stores like Galaxus or Amorana or the like, you can also dispose of your electronic erotic toys discreetly. All you need to do is enter the desired number of bags and your address in the form on the website Electro Recycling Bag. After you click the “Order” button, your requested quantity of Electro Recycling Bags will be delivered to you by post within 10 days. For a fee of CHF 4.50, you can fill a bag with up to 10 kilograms and simply pop it back in your letterbox. The full Electro Recycling Bag will be collected by the post office and sent to SENS eRecycling to be recycled.