When you buy a new computer, what do you do with your old one?

September 3, 2008, 11:13 am
Filed Under LO, new products, random babbling | |

Today’s e-tip is about computers. As digital scrappers, we’re pretty reliant on our computers, right? So what do you do with your old one? Me? I’ve donated them to a local charity that rebuilds them to distribute to needy families and schools. Have you thrown yours out? Recycled it somehow? Here’s the scoop on computers. I did a little digging around the EPA’s website for most of this info, just to back up my dusty old knowledge of it. So, some of the specific info here may only be geared towards those of us in the U.S.

Why is it so bad to just dispose of a computer in your trash? Well, besides the fact that it’ll just sit in the landfill, along with lots of other bulky stuff, computers have all sorts of nasty stuff in them that are hazardous to the earth. There’s lead - lots of it, in a CRT (the monitor). There’s cadmium in rechargable batteries used in laptops. Those are both heavy metals which, when put in a landfill, will leach into groundwater. Surely you’ve heard of all the toy recalls because of toys being made with lead paint - well, that lead from our computers getting into the groundwater is just as bad. You’ve got a flat panel montitor, you say? Well, there’s mercury in those - another heavy metal.

So what can you do? Well, you could donate old computers to charities. I totally forget how I found the one near me - I think it was listed in the newspaper or something, but you could try calling your local government & asking if they have any places that accept donations of old computers (or e-waste, it’s sometimes called). Now, I haven’t checked out this site much very recently, but here is a link to a site that offers info on finding a place to donate your computer (or cell phones, printers, any electronics). It’s called Earth 911.

How about recycling? Instead of donating, there are places that actually recycle computers & electronics. The EPA has a helpful little page here that can help you find a recycler in your area. As an example, I’ll use my own EPA Region III. I’m in PA and when I follow the links, I get to this page. It tells me county by county how to recycle my e-waste. And, it even lists Electronic Discards Collection Events. How cool is that? I can find out exactly when they’re having an electronic discards drive & bring my stuff right to them.

Is there anything else I can do? Yeah, you could try to buy green. There’s that word again - “green.” Look for products that claim to have fewer toxic parts - less mercury, less lead. Maybe ones that use less packaging or use recycled materials in the make-up of the computer. This is kind of hard for us as consumers because we really rely on the computer companies to be honest with us & to tell you the truth, when picking out a computer, there is so much to look for, trying to find “green” computers may be difficult. You can always start with ones that are energy efficient. There’s the “Energy Star” rating to look for. That tells you that it’s energy efficient. That’s a good start.

Finally, EPA has this little partnership thing going called Plug-In to eCycling.

EPA has partnered up with lots of retailers and manufacturers to help out us consumers and enable us to e-cycle. You may have seen this - I know I have with my HP printer ink. When I buy new ink, there’s always info there on how to return the old ink cartridges so they can recycle them. (I don’t do that, though…I donate all my used ink cartridges to my kids’ school who then sends them all back to HP and they actually get money for it - even better, right?)

So there you have it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. That’s enough info to last you a lifetime, huh? Recycle, e-cycle, freecycle…seems “cycle” is the hot word this week. On that note, let me first say that I’ve emailed a few people who have contacted me about yesterday’s entry and given out a few free kits to those that promised layouts. So have a look in the galleries this week for some layouts with the new kit, Green: The New Black coming to SBE on Sunday. Here is a layout I did with the kit:

(Credits include other items, too. Everything is by me & in addition to the new “Green” kit coming to SBE, I’ve used the following: Flair from Jelly Buttons by me at SBB, Dotted ribbon from Just4Girls by me at SBE. And I modified a “Smarties” template by Teresa Ferguson.)

Oh, and a little “it’s a small world” update on my Freecycle post. After I posted a few times on my local Freecycle Yahoo Group, I got an email from one of the mods. She was a childhood friend of mine & lived down the street from me all my life. How’s that for weird? So Freecycle does more than help you recycle, it helps you touch base with old friends, LOL!

That’s it for today! Happy e-cycling!


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. kelly on September 3, 2008 11:52 am

    Great Layout!!!! I love it. He looks like he is really having FUN!

  2. GrannyNKy on September 3, 2008 12:29 pm

    Great layout with the new kit! Great tips as well on computer-recycling. We have recycled a lot of computers, not only our own when we get new ones but we have been given lots of old used computers as well which my husband reconditions and fixes, with old recycled computer parts and then we pass the computers on to friends or family which do not have computers. With a family as large as ours, there is always some one in need! And everyone benefits, when we upgrade, for we pass the old one on to one of the kids, who then passes their old one on to some one else, and so-on…someone can always use hand-me-downs!

  3. Aly in GA on September 3, 2008 4:09 pm

    I honestly wish I could say that we recycle our computers. My husband is a programmer and, much to my dismay and anxiety, HE SAVES EVERY COMPUTER WE’VE EVER HAD IN THE PAST 10 YEARS! I am going INSANE with the clutter. But he SWEARS that he’s going to piece a couple together for our two boys. And he can’t POSSIBLE let them leave the house, because what if he NEEDS something that he can harvest from these relics.

    Is my exasperation coming through in my comment?? I’m going to check out the links you gave and see if I can change his way of thinking.

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