Computer Recycling

This is it, friends; the penultimate week of 2008. As the year runs to a close, we plunge deep into not only the holiday gift giving season, but the holiday gift receiving season as well. If you're on the edge of your yuletide seat waiting for Santa or Hanukah Harry to bring you a new computer this year, maybe you should stop and take a minute to think about what you're going to do with that old and busted machine once the new hotness shows up.

Many people don't know that computers and other electronic equipment contain many highly toxic materials, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and chromium. Of course you know that. You're environmentally friendly, just like your shirt says. (And if your shirt doesn't say that, you might want to click over here: http://www.teehugger.com/product_p/thjs1009.htm) But I'm sure there are some people in your circle of gift giving that will just chuck their old computer in the trash can the second the new one successfully boots up. Here are some steps you can share with your friends to help keep those dirty bits and bytes out of the landfill this holiday season:

Step one: Clean it!

Before you get rid of your computer, you need to take all of that private data on your computer (such as financial information, personal files, and your naughty and nice list) and wipe it off the hard drive. You want to save the planet, but you don't want to lose your identity. There are lots of free programs available to scrub down your hard drive. Just point your search engine at the phrase "free disk cleaners" and let 'er rip.

Step two: Reuse it!

Obsolescence is a very relative thing. Your two-year-old computer may be too slow for you, but it's an upgrade for the guy who doesn't have a computer at all. If your computer is from 2003 or newer, many charitable organizations will accept it as a donation and give it to those in need of a hot cup of Internet. You can check your local area for computer repurposing projects, or visit the On It Foundation, which is dedicated to providing free computers and training to the children of low-income families: http://www.theonitfoundation.org/ And if saving the Earth and helping those in need isn't enough incentive to donate your old computer, you can also write your donation off on your taxes. Hear that? It's your karma and your wallet both going "cha-ching!"

Step three: Recycle it!

If you're replacing a digital dinosaur so old that charities won't even touch it, there are still green ways to get rid of that old fossil. Check with your computer manufacturer and see if they have a free recycling service, or find an electronics recycler in your area at: http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/ Make sure that your recycler is socially responsible by checking to see that they've signed the Electronic Recycler's Pledge of True Stewardship, "the most rigorous criteria for sustainable and socially just electronics recycling," at: http://www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html

Happy holidays to you and yours from the whole gang at Tee Hugger. We hope you get that new machine you've got your eye on. And if you don't, well, it's just going to be obsolete in three months anyway.