Free Geek does the same thing, though I am not sure if they will take donations from people outside of the Portland, OR area.
Joined on 01-28-2004
TechSoup Member
That's a tough question! Here in California, we're not supposed to toss stuff into the muni garbage, but there are really no consumer-level disposal options, either. There are companies that can send a truck over to pick up hundreds of pounds of used electronics (whether these are really recycled or end up dumped somewhere is another question) but if you just have a small quantity to get rid of... I couldn't find any good options when I looked.
I would be happy to pay a reasonable recycling fee if there were some consumer-accessible place around here that would do it.
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I guess you haven't yet found our
recycling page. You can find local places to donate your used boxes on this list.
Joined on 08-21-2005
TechSoup Member
Make a millions dollars!
RCI’s services address the critical triangle of computer recycling and remarketing: Investment Recovery; Data Destruction and E-Waste Recycling with Environmental Liability Protection. It sells refurbished and almost-new computers, peripherals and spare parts through its retail division, Outlet Computer Store and www.outletcomputer.com, and through a widespread network of dealers and distributors in the USA and in foreign markets. In fact, 70 per cent of the products handled by RCI are remarketed. RCI itself runs on refurbished computer equipment.
Joined on 10-21-2005
TechSoup Member
In Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania A company clalled E-Tech recycling which will pick up and recycle your old computers and monitors. Check out their website http://www.etechrecycling.com
Joined on 11-06-2005
TechSoup Member
Get rid of what you know is dead (check local policy for recycling) and keep the rest, even if it doesn't form a complete PC. These make good spare parts in case something on your new computer breaks. That's what I do personally!
Joined on 12-13-2005
TechSoup Member
Free Geek does the same thing, though I am not sure if they will take donations from people outside of the Portland, OR area.
There are also
Free Geeks in
Olympia, Washington,
South Bend, Indiana,
Columbus, Ohio,
Chicago, Illinois and
Ephrata, Pennsylvania. If you want to send your computers to the one in
Portland though, we'll be happy to take them. Just so you know, the Free Geek in Portland charges $10 for each monitor we get because it costs us about that much to properly recycle them (I think the others charge a similar amount), we'll take everything else for free. Another option would be to
start your own Free Geek.
Joined on 05-10-2006
TechSoup Member
My name is Tami, and I am the accidental techie for our small non-profit corporation. While many valid points have been raised, I came here looking for a reasonable solution to our old computers in the closet (and other non-profits in the area with similarly full closets). I do not doubt that we all need to be be politically outspoken about finding solutions - this is rapidly becoming a serious problem. However, the answer to the main question seems to be whatever you can think of/locate/create in your own small geographic area. I will continue to look for answers to "What do you do with a dead computer?".
With all the resources that were mentioned in this thread, I'm not surprised that no one has posted to it in over a year, but now the question is raised again...?
My answer is this:
1) Find a place that will recycle the computer. This would be a company or just a person that can tinker with it, use the parts, fix it up, and make some use of it either by giving it away or selling it.
2) Find a place that will recycle the computer. This is different from #1, because in this instance the computer is transformed into something that is no longer a computer. BestBuy has been having recycling days and everything they get is reported to be sliced, diced, ground up, and used to make more ipods.
3) Find a place that will bury the computer. If your local laws permit, trash that beige box and send it to the landfill. Not the best choice, but for some it may be the last choice after giving it permanent storage.
From my experience, most computers are not "dead" and I own two 286 laptops to prove it. I have to admit that like an aging house cat they spend most of the time sleeping...
Joined on 04-30-2004
TechSoup Member
Truly dead computers' motherboards, modems, network cards, etc. are very useful to art teachers in schools grades 5-16 as the parts can be cut up on a bandsaw or with a hacksaw and used to make jewelry, contemporary totems, sculpture, wall reliefs, etc.... without ending in the landfill. Many art teachers have, and some not thought of, this resource yet. I've done this since 1985 and the kids go wild. I would love to work on a national or international virtual exhibit of these artworks. Reactions to: artsclew@aol.com
I hope some consideration is taken with the possibility of toxic dust being created with the use of a bandsaw, since some of the materials can contain lead and other nasty things.