My computer's powerful Energy Star processor gives off so much heat it's almost most like having a campfire under my desk during the winter!
I have a plastic storage tub full of various working power supplies and computer parts just waiting. We were able to donate a few parts and an old big CRT monitor to a college student who wanted to learn how to build his own computer because he’s studying IT. It felt great to help the guy out and stretch his meager college student computer budget.
I didn’t want to send the old parts to a computer recycling center because our parts were working and could help someone else. Also sometimes (although not always) the parts are shipped to a third world country and the gold and valuable metals are recovered by hand, which can be dangerous because many components can contain lead soldering.
I was also discouraged because many of the places that would take my computer items for recycling charge me a fee for doing so. That added up to a significant sum considering that they would change me the same fee to take a network card as a monitor. No wonder people dump this stuff in the trashcan at the end of their driveway – it’s definitely cheaper!
Green U’s suggestion to Donate Clothes and Other Used Goods on One Million Acts of Green was the kick in the pants I needed to finally find and donate that storage tub of parts to Freegeek Columbus. Freegeek Columbus will use my donation to make computers for financially challenged people that run on Linux, a free, open source operating system. It took quite a bit of work on my part to find Freegeek but it’s definitely better than dumping my old computer parts in the trash. I also get to take the donation off my taxes as a charitable contribution. We all win!
I’m grateful to Cisco for allowing me to participate in One Million Acts of Green because there are a lot of suggestions for green acts on Green U that I know that I should do, but haven’t gotten around to yet.
For every three Acts of Green you complete, you get one entry into the One Million Acts of Green Sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5,000 green shopping spree at BuyGreen.com. Which can help you can some the more spendy Acts like installing a rain barrel. You entries are only limited by the number of acts you can complete by October 31, 2010.
Do you know of any charities around you that accept computers as a donation? Have you ever donated a computer or parts? Do you have to pay to recycle your computer?
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Disclosure: Rockfish Interactive, in partnership with Cisco are compensating me for my considerable time on this project. However, my ideas, words, and opinions are my own and are not influenced by this compensation. See what the other ambassadors have to say about One Million Acts of Green: Crunchy Domestic Goddess, Green Your Décor and Green and Clean Mom.
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