Importance Of Properly Disposing Of Old Computers
The term electronic waste, or E-waste, refers to obsolete computers or other technology that people no longer want. These electronic devices are made with toxic substances like mercury, lead, and chromium. When computer end up dumped in a landfill, all those chemicals end up soaking into the ground, which ends up polluting the air and groundwater.
Considering the state of the environment today, you probably dont want to literally pile onto the existing problem. But what can you do about the old computer lying around your home or office? You can recycle that laptop or desktop computer for cash or other forms of payment through a variety of means.
Lets look at some different options for computer disposal that can put a few extra dollars in your pocket. These options may also work for you if you have an old cell phone, tablet, gaming console, or other electronic device that provides some of the same functionality as a standard computer.
What To Take Note When Recycling An Old Laptop
The parts within old laptops arent entirely considered as garbage or trash. However, what we need to avoid is the possibility of toxic substances from these old devices leaking from landfills and reaching groundwater. Since the amount of old electronics being disposed of is accelerating, recycling e-waste is extremely important.
Recycling electronic devices are highly recommended for many reasons. The rate of the shortened product lifecycle for the electronics and consumer electronics industry is growing rapidly. Responsible solid waste management is beneficial to the environment as it will limit the damage we cause.
Before disposing of old laptops, evaluate whether its still functional. If its not more than five years old, someone can still make use of it. Newer models can go to libraries or non-profit organizations after being repaired.
When you bring the old laptop, please take note of all the accompanying devices or software that come with it. Chances are, refurbishers can reuse all of these. The most important thing is to wipe your old laptops data as well as other sensitive information.
Lastly, donating old laptops can potentially offer you a tax break. That said, keep track of everything that youve donated. If you need more information, you can visit the Legal Information Institute regarding gifts and charitable contributions. Sage is also a site worth visiting.
You Can Recycle Your Old Laptops Phones Cameras And Batteries For Free Here’s How
Don’t throw away your old electronics if you’ve upgraded to new devices this holiday season. Here’s what to do.
What do you do with your phone when it’s served its purpose? We’ll give you some options.
Gadgets can pile up over the years — new ones are gifted during the holidays, old ones become obsolete and break. You probably have a drawer full of old batteries and cables, and some old phones, laptops and desktops lying around, which may only be growing larger if you replaced any electronics over the holidays. Perhaps you keep them for nostalgic reasons or because you thought you might be able to use them again.
Whatever the tech, when it’s finally time to say goodbye, there’s a right way to dispose of your old gadgets — and a lot of wrong ways.
Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with CNET’s How To newsletter.
Read Also: How To Record Video On Hp Laptop
Turn It Into An External Monitor
You can also reuse your old laptop as an external monitor, as long as the monitor is in okay shape. Using multiple monitors while youre on your new computer can help you work much quicker.
To do this, youll need to use an application to control your old laptop remotely or cables to connect your devices.
Where To Recycle Your Laptop
You can recycle your laptop by bringing it or mailing it to a reputable electronics recycling company like GreenCitizen that can either repair and reuse it or dismantle it in an environmentally-responsible way.
San Francisco Bay Area residents dont have to look far. In our effort to make every day Earth Day, GreenCitizen offers free laptop recycling, with every machine or component being reused or recycled safely.
You can avail of our convenient drop off, business pickup, or IT Asset Disposition services that help us all stay green.
If youre outside the San Francisco Bay Area or you’re far from our Eco Center in Burlingame you are also welcome to mail in your notebook to us. Check out our mail-in electronics recycling page for more details.
You can also find other electronics recycling centers near you using our Green Directory.
You May Like: How To Record Your Screen On Dell Desktop
Convert It To A Nas Or Home Server
If you don’t already have a NAS, this is a great use for a now-obsolete PC. Sure, you could pay for cloud storage for your family, but a NAS gives you full control over the security of your files, and means you can keep your music, photo and video libraries in one place for everyone to access.
However, it’s not just a matter of connecting that old PC to a router and starting it up. Windows – especially older versions – aren’t configured to be effective servers or storage systems. Plus, a PC might use too much power compared to a dedicated NAS box. You’ll want to set BIOS power management to run cooling fans in quiet mode, if that option exists. You’ll also need to set up the operating system so that it doesn’t shut down at inconvenient times, yet run in a low-power state when it’s not being actively used.
Bear in mind that you’ll probably want to run your server ‘headless’ , and sans keyboard and mouse as well. While you’ll need a display and input devices for the initial setup, make sure the system will work properly without them. Having a scheduled reboot hang because the system halted during startup is annoying, to say the least.
Also, the operating system is likely not well suited for storage applications, particularly for multiple users. While Windows can function well as a storage repository for a couple of users, you’ll want to take the time to create user accounts for each person who might need access. In some cases, you may want to set storage quotas.
How To Recycle Your Old Laptops Phones Cameras And Batteries For Free
- 30th Mar’21
OpenGrowth
“Waste isnt waste until we waste it. “
Gadgets are the prized possession of every modern-day individual. Cell phones, laptops, cameras, printers, iPods, etc., we all use to make our lives easier. Unfortunately, like humans, they, too, are mortals. Thats when the burden arises.
You must have a junk of used cell phones, batteries, or a broken watch at some corner of your closet. The reality is, gadgets have a smaller life, and whether or not you update them from time to time, they need replacement. What do you do after that?
The best thing to do is to donate or recycle it. Some groups can help you recycle your digital trash and make it useful for someone else. Electronics are filled with heavy metals which when dumped can release harmful chemicals like mercury and lead into the air. We have a list of groups committed to the effective recycling of these old junks categorically and make the world a little more greener.
Also Check: Can You Play Fortnite On A Hp Computer
The Importance Of Computer Recycling
If discarded improperly, an old computer can become a font of toxins and carcinogens in the environment, posing a health risk for both humans and wildlife. If that same computer is recycled, however, it can become a valuable source of secondary raw materials for other electronic devices, thus preventing its own pollution while helping offset the need for new metals and plastics.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , recycling 1 million laptops saves enough energy to power about 3,500 U.S. homes for a year.
Here are a few tips for figuring out what to do with an old computer, including how to reuse it, how to recycle it, how to protect your data, and how computer recycling works.
Recycle Laptops: Your Quick
If youve decided to recycle a laptop or desktop computer, heres how in three easy steps
ASK
Have you backed up files that you want to keep? Did you remove memory cards, and batteries? Have you erased your personal data? Use our guide to deleting data.
BAG IT
Bag up your unwanted computer and accessories until youre ready to take them for recycling. Recycle the battery pack with your other batteries if its removable they are a fire risk if mixed in with other recycling.
CHECK
Find your nearest electricals recycling or donation point by using our locator. If youre buying a new computer you can now hand over your old one in store for recycling.
Recommended Reading: How To Unblock A Website Blocked By Administrator
Removing Your Data And Files
Deauthorize Software And Programs
Computer applications such as iTunes, Adobe Creative, and Office365 limit the number of registered users and devices associated with a valid subscription. Therefore, ensure to deauthorize your accounts and other services from your old laptop before uninstalling them. Although some apps such as Adobe allow the installation on two registered devices, theres no point in retaining your account in an old laptop that youll eventually recycle.
To deactivate the Adobe app from your old laptop, follow these steps:
Don’t Miss: Laptop Lease Business
Notice Regarding Personal Data
Your identity and other personal information can be stolen from a computer, cell phone, or other data storage devices. Before recycling your electronics, protect yourself from identity theft by removing personal data and your files. For information on how to remove data, check with the manufacturer, a computer retailer or search the web.
Hennepin County is not responsible for any data that is left on electronic devices.
Dedicate It To ‘distributed Computing’
Want to do a little good for humanity? How about dedicating your old PC to one of the various public distributed computing projects?
The best known is probably . uses computing resources from all over the world to help study protein folding, an essential element to understanding how many diseases operate. If your old PC has a fairly new graphics card, that hardware can often pitch in as well, and offer up even more computing resources. Other distributed computing ventures include:
- , where you can participate in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Also Check: Lenovo Hinge Repair Cost
How To Safely Dispose Of Your Pc
The hard drive is a record of all the data on your computer. Over a lifetime of use, you will have input a lots of confidential information credit card numbers, bank accounts, and website log-ins and passwords. This date must be destroyed before you sell or give away the PC in order to prevent criminals making use of it.
This personal and private information can remain on the hard drive even if it has been “erased” or reformatted. To ensure its complete removal you need to destroy the magnetic platter inside the hard drive.
Break The Computer Down And Sell The Parts
Another way you can make cash from recycling old computers is by breaking them down and selling the old parts. This is a good option if you only have one non-functional computer or have several non-working devices that cant be combined into a new one. Many people who repair computers often end up with a pile of parts they dont have a use for.
These parts can be sold to online or local vendors for some extra cash. Youre likely to find something of value in even the oldest computer. For example, the motherboard may be completely fried on your 10-year-old desktop, but that doesnt mean you cant sell the valuable metal plating used to hold components in place.
The more you put in time building or repairing old computers, the larger an parts inventory you can build up. Places like eBay are a good option for selling old computer parts. You can also try hanging out in various computer forums and look for postings from people looking for specific parts you may have in your current inventory.
Some computer parts you can potentially sell to others for some extra cash include:
- Cleaned hard drives
- RAM Memory
You May Like: How Do I Connect My Laptop To My Wireless Printer
What Can You Do With A Dead Computer
Here are four environmentally-friendly ways to get rid of an old computer.
Best Buy Customers Are Part Of The Solution To E
The laptop, phone or tablet youre reading this on might become part of an airplane one day that is, if you recycle it.
At Best Buy, we have helped our customers recycle more than 2 billion pounds of electronics and appliances since 2009, making us the largest retail collector of e-waste in the United States.
We are committed to supporting our customers throughout the lifecycle of their products, said Tim Dunn, Best Buys head of environmental sustainability. Making electronics recycling easy is one important way we can serve our communities and protect the environment,
Our goal is to make it really easy. You can drop off old electronics for recycling at any Best Buy store, and our trade-in program provides gift cards for items that still have value. You can also use our haul-away program when you buy new TVs, appliances or fitness equipment.
But what exactly happens next?
After being collected by a Best Buy associate, they are shipped to Regency Technologies or Electronic Recyclers International , our trusted recycling partners. These facilities wipe any remaining data from devices before determining if the product can be repaired, repurposed or recycled.
Then, they break down materials using shredders, equipment and manpower and ensure the reclaimed commodities are recycled and repurposed into new products like fiber-optic cables and even airplanes. Plastics can be made into new electronics or other items.
Recommended Reading: Why Does Ark Run So Poorly
Recycling Centers And Local Recycling Days
If you just want to throw away your old electronics, make sure you send them to an official recycling center that will properly dispose of them. Search your local area to see what recycling centers accept electronics, or see if you can save a little time by heading to All Green Recycling and plugging in your zip code to see if they can locate any drop-off points.
Your citys government website can also be a help: Many cities have a special day of the year where they allow everyone to put old electronics on the curb for proper collection and recycling. If nothing else, they often have pages about local centers and recycling practices that you should know about.
Donate It To A Local School
If your PC isn’t too archaic, consider donating it to a local school or hospital. Even if it is way beyond its sell-by date it could go to a local school’s computer lab and be used as a test bed, to take apart and reassemble. Alternatively, local schools might use it for parts, although they may shy away from used gear, given the unknown pedigree or wear of older hardware.
As with selling a system, the final option in this list, you’ll want to remove all software that you’ve reinstalled on your new PC. And make sure to include all licence information for the software you’re leaving installed on the old system.
Bottom line: no charitable of publicly funded organisation is ever going to be unhappy that you are offering them a computer. Even if they can’t use it, they may be able to sell it or use it for parts, and you can enjoy the healthy glow of a righteous person.
Some local authorities will provide you with details of local non-profit groups who may accept your PC. And Computer Aid International can send computers to underdeveloped countries, so long as the specifications are high enough.
Don’t Miss: How To Fax On Mac