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A lot of electronics recycling events are scheduled on and around Earth Day each year. And, if you have old computers, cell phones, or other electronics gear, it is far better to take it to be recycled rather than adding it to the landfill.
But, there are also hardware hackers, robotics enthusiasts, Makers, and others who would like to get those components to use for their creations. Due to privacy and security concerns, donated materials cannot be given to these people. Hard drives and memory cards may have some data on them, but those can be separated, and the useful electronics can find new life in a new creation.
Some groups are now organizing to hold swap events before the big recycling collections to have an opportunity to have some of these materials find new purpose and new life, rather than having them shredded. In Ann Arbor MI, a group called GO-Tech is planning a materials swap like this the day before the annual local electronics recycling event.
If you're a Maker and that's not enough stuff for you, or you aren't near a repurposing event like this, we also recently noted on TreeHugger that the online store Think Geek has a scrapbox subscription program that will send you a box of "borked stuff" that they can't resell or donate, but that enterprising people might be able to make use of.
image: CC BY 2.0 by Randy Pertiet
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written by Keith Mc., April 21, 2011
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written by Carl Hage, April 22, 2011
It could be that the difference in electric bills between old desktop and new laptop is more expensive than the cost of the new laptop. I measured a cordless phone and figured it was costing me $80 of electricity (while off) over it's life, so I replaced all my phones and answering machine with a new unit and it will pay for itself is energy savings. Sadly, the old electronics needs to be junked.
We should be considering the power usage (and price of power) for all electronics that plugs into the wall. (Usually battery powered devices are pretty frugal.)
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written by Brad F, April 25, 2011
Brad F.
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written by csteven, April 14, 2012
Get a coalition of people, who are local readers
Ask your Local Newspapers to Place a LARGE FREE advertisement in News Sections. Talk to large local employers. Talk to their Public Relations departments, this should be easy.
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I have a number of FIRST High School Robotics teams, that need "better cpu/memory/graphics cards than what they have currently", to run more modern software than their current systems can handle. This is especially true in the schools that have switched over to Apple systems. The FIRST contest requires IBM PC style hardware. As they are no longer in the "hand-me-down" queue from school upgrades, the team's systems quickly become far too old to run the current generation of software.
We are VERY interested in getting access to old computer Towers or Desk chassis, without the hard drives. Given them, we can easily "Frankenstein" up our systems, reusing our old hard drives, keyboards, mice, monitors, et al.
That will at least repurpose SOME of the old computer hardware, and avoid them becoming landfill fodder.
IF anyone has any old desktop or tower chassis, please contact me. They don't HAVE to TOTALLY be destroyed, to protect old owner's privacy. Thanks!
- Keith Mc. - Washtenaw Alliance of FIRST Leaders