What do you do with your old unusable electronics?

[Muse]

I have some of this around I need to get rid of. I figure it's not acceptable to throw it in my trash. I'm talking about things like:

A full size DVD drive that doesn't work.

Receiver whose FM section went AWOL.

Old not functioning HP4M printer (likely the PS doesn't work).

Boxes of floppy disks.

Motherboards that don't work any more or are hopelessly outdated.

RAM sticks that no one would want anymore.

VCR that doesn't work anymore... I have two of these.

VHS tapes
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I remember hearing about recycling activities such as a one time scheduled drop-off of old electronics, etc., but haven't heard of anything like that these days. I see old TVs on the sidewalk almost every day.

There seems to be a strange silence about old electronics. I've heard that it's not environmentally acceptable to just throw them in landfill.

I know it's against the law to throw your old batteries in the trash in CA. The indie electronics store that I used to bring them to no longer accepts them. They sent me to Urban Ore down on Gilman Street in West Berkeley. Maybe they'll accept old electronics, guess I will call them, but AFAIK they generally just deal in bottles, steel, aluminum, stuff like that.

 

[someone16]

Guess it depends on where you live. All the things you listed can be taken to a recycling depot where I live. Though that's because they charge you an "environmental handling fee" whenever you buy new electronics.

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Electronics+Recycling&find_loc=Berkeley,+CA

http://www.ewastecollective.org/electronics-recycling/

http://www.berkeleyrecycling.org/index.php

 

[blankslate]

Amateur will it blend videos....


__________

 

[Newbian]

Send them to china cod as it will end up there anyways.

 

[Imp]

Turns out my city has an electronics recycling program and it's picked up on garbage day... Tried it a week ago and they picked it up, so I'm assuming it worked -- or a hoarder took it.

Otherwise, we used to drop it off at a park during a once a year hazardous shit and electronics recycling day.

The biggest problem is hard drives and CDs/DVDs with personal data. I can shred it with my shredder, but that shit is messy and I don't want that shit in my shredder.

 

[Charmonium]

The town here will take them but you have to get them there. So for example, to get my old hdtv to the dump, sorry, recycling center, I have to rent a truck with a lift gate so I can haul the beast there w/o busting my ass trying to load it into a pickup or something.

 

[XavierMace]

The biggest problem is hard drives and CDs/DVDs with personal data. I can shred it with my shredder, but that shit is messy and I don't want that shit in my shredder.

Bullets work great for that.

 

[Strk]

Best Buy

They're supposed to charge (but give a gift card of equal value), but most don't

 

[Spacehead]

We have a place locally that takes that kind of stuff but you have to pay them to take it.

 

[Jaepheth]

Best Buy

They're supposed to charge (but give a gift card of equal value), but most don't

Charges only apply to certain items; like vacuum tube TVs.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Turns out my city has an electronics recycling program and it's picked up on garbage day... Tried it a week ago and they picked it up, so I'm assuming it worked -- or a hoarder took it.

Otherwise, we used to drop it off at a park during a once a year hazardous shit and electronics recycling day.

The biggest problem is hard drives and CDs/DVDs with personal data. I can shred it with my shredder, but that shit is messy and I don't want that shit in my shredder.

DBAN and a pair of scissors .done

 

[boomerang]

A consortium of the municipalities in the area put on collection days monthly that are held in different locations. The 21st of this month is the next one and as we're contemplating moving, I intend to clear out a ton of stuff. I'm hopeful we can fit it in one car as we have a lot of paint to get rid of too.

Depending on where one lives it can be free or for most, $10 per car full. Non-residents of the communities that are participating pay $50.

I'm ecstatic that they'll take paint in its liquid state. Most want it dried up.

 

[lxskllr]

Hoard the stuff in my basement. I need to get rid of a lot of that crap. I have a handful of antiques I want to keep, but most of it can be scrapped.

 

[boomerang]

I've got 15 spinners stacked up in the closet in the computer room that I will never have any use for. Pulls from systems that I upgraded, etc. The largest I think is 80GB. Four are 10K raptors. Motherboards, memory, cases, two CRT televisions. The list goes on...

 

[John Connor]

Send them to china cod as it will end up there anyways.

I used to work at a electronic recycling company and I had to fix broken printer cartridges. Well, the ones I couldn't fix went into a gaylord and shipped to China.

Bullets work great for that.

Thermite! You can buy the components on ebay.

 

[Anubis]

The biggest problem is hard drives and CDs/DVDs with personal data. I can shred it with my shredder, but that shit is messy and I don't want that shit in my shredder.

do you have a microwave?


anyway I just pile it up and wait for the yearly electronics recycling that the county does

 

[sdifox]

I have some of this around I need to get rid of. I figure it's not acceptable to throw it in my trash. I'm talking about things like:

A full size DVD drive that doesn't work.

Receiver whose FM section went AWOL.

Old not functioning HP4M printer (likely the PS doesn't work).

Boxes of floppy disks.

Motherboards that don't work any more or are hopelessly outdated.

RAM sticks that no one would want anymore.

VCR that doesn't work anymore... I have two of these.

VHS tapes
------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember hearing about recycling activities such as a one time scheduled drop-off of old electronics, etc., but haven't heard of anything like that these days. I see old TVs on the sidewalk almost every day.

There seems to be a strange silence about old electronics. I've heard that it's not environmentally acceptable to just throw them in landfill.

I know it's against the law to throw your old batteries in the trash in CA. The indie electronics store that I used to bring them to no longer accepts them. They sent me to Urban Ore down on Gilman Street in West Berkeley. Maybe they'll accept old electronics, guess I will call them, but AFAIK they generally just deal in bottles, steel, aluminum, stuff like that.

what kind of ram stick :awe:


do you have 144pin PC133 133MHz SDRAM SO-DIMM?

 

[clamum]

If it doesn't work or is broken, toss it. Otherwise, put it in the rummage sale my mom and sister have every couple years.

 

[Squisher]

Staples Launches FREE Recycling of Electronics Nationwide

http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/sustainability-center/recycling-services/

 

[Fritzo]

Cool things I keep for my "nostalgia museum" in the basement. Otherwise Best Buy or public recycling. If you like money, donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army and get stupid high tax deductions.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

what kind of ram stick :awe:


do you have 144pin PC133 133MHz SDRAM SO-DIMM?

I'm pretty sure I have those, and much more.
EDIT nothing in SO-Dimms sorry.

 

[RLGL]

The county I live in has a center that takes all recycling FREE.

 

[sdifox]

I'm pretty sure I have those, and much more.

yeah don't really need it, was just going to find a 512MB to stick it into my printer just for the hell of it

 

[FeuerFrei]

Hereabouts they announce the electronics recycling once or twice a year. I only come across the notice in the local newspaper. Usually it is held in some parking lot, like the mall's.

They even pay you money for good sized batteries, IIRC.