The €80s have been back for quite some time now, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that technology specs and aesthetics have also been following suit. For every high-top looking to hit the streets, we have high-def screen displays looking to wow us with more and more pixels; for every release of a vocoder-infused song defining the current pop sonic landscape, we have gadgets which seem to talk to us in human-sounding voices; and for every big hairdo worn by fashionistas to make a statement, we have portable gaming devices which seem to have grown bigger than their earlier incarnations.

Tablet computers are a great example of this return to excessive form. Just when the world thought that miniaturization was the be-all and end-all of technological development, along comes this weird-looking contraption that seems to defy portable gadget standards. €It's like an iPod, but bigger? Will it even fit in my backpack? Does a portable device which you have to literally lug around even make sense?€ These and other similar sentiments have been injudiciously thrown back and forth for a while there.

And then finally, the Apple iPad was unveiled.

I could go on and on about how the iPad eventually turned out to be a resounding success to the surprise of many initial doubters, but that's for another article entirely. The question which I really want to bring up in this article is this: What does this shift in gadget aesthetic preference mean for the world?

It could mean many things, of course, but this might just arguably take the cake: It means bigger plastic wastes.

Thankfully, solutions for large-scale waste management have been formulated and expanded since it first became a necessity. In the case of gadget consumerism, we have what is known as €e-recycling.€ This is the refurbishing and reselling of discarded electronic devices for extended usage before being irrevocably deemed unusable. For the consumer, this means selling your iPad instead of just carelessly throwing it away.

€Where can I sell my iPad, though?€ you ask. Well, a quick Google search will give you many possible solutions, one of the better ones being CashForiPads.com. As the name implies, it is a website dedicated to letting you sell iPad online for cash. The company which the website represents is committed to the green movement, and their venture is one in which all parties involved €" they, you, and (more importantly) the Earth €" benefit greatly.

After selling your iPad and getting a price quote from the website, you will be sent a box with which to send your iPad over, at absolutely no cost. Once your gadget passes inspection standards, you will be able to receive your payment within one business day via company check or PayPal. More than the cash you receive, though, is the satisfaction you get from having done your part in making the world a greener and better place.

And here you thought selling your iPad wouldn't make a lick of difference.