What to do with old CRTs?

[xTrinity]

So I've accumulated a few CRTs in my basement, from various hand-me downs and repairs. They are all still working, and can display up to 1280x1024. What can I do with these without having to dump them? Maybe make a few dollars? Donation? Obviously I cannot Ebay them, shipping alone would be more than the monitors.

 

[DSF]

Old CRTs won't make you much money. You may as well donate them to a school or community center or somesuch.

 

[Zap]

The only ones really worth money are REALLY GOOD and REALLY LARGE ones. For instance, 19" Trinitron screens may be worth a couple bucks but a 17" non flat CRT may not be worth anything. I see those go for free on Craigslist.

 

[JackMDS]

People who use Freeware applications should donate their old inexpensive Hardware.

If One can not reciprocate by writing a good Freeware and make it available to all, at least give back in another way.

 

[kylef]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
People who use Freeware applications should donate their old inexpensive Hardware.

If One can not reciprocate by writing a good Freeware and make it available to all, at least give back in another way.

I agree, but it's getting harder and harder to find organizations that will accept such "donations" without charging a recycling fee!

In fact, here in Seattle I am not aware of any organization which accepts used CRT monitors for free. I honestly have resorted to "free stuff" posts on Craigslist, which is silly IMO. I would rather donate to a non-profit.

Oh well, their loss...

 

[xTrinity]

You'd think there were some sort of recycling program in a university town, but AFAIK there are none in my city. They just have a special service where the they disposes of CRTs properly to prevent any harmful materials from leaking to the environment. Interestingly enough, the university of not accepting any CRT donations, as they are completely LCD now and have no use for CRT haha.

 

[kylef]

I just hunted around, and the Seattle public utilities website has a list of approved recycling companies for disposal of computer monitors. All CRTs and PCB (printed circuit board) electronics are considered hazardous materials and cannot be tossed into dumpsters by city law.

The cheapest organizations on the list for computer monitors charged $5 per working monitor, $10 otherwise. The highest I saw was $25 per CRT.

If you can find a non-profit willing to accept CRT donations without a recycling fee, my advice would be to jump at the chance!

 

[Modelworks]

Old crt, not the trinitrons, are worth next to nothing.
I go to county surplus auctions, where they get rid of computer gear whenever the county upgrades.
I see palettes, stacked with monitors, 8 on each layer, 5 layers tall, so 40 monitors.
The whole palette usually goes for about 5.00 .
And they sell probably 5 or 6 palettes like that.

Its sad what some of this old stuff goes for, considering how much it cost.
I saw a IBM AS/400 going for 10.00 and that was only because it was with a desk the guy wanted.
He was asking people after the sale if they wanted it to keep him from having to move it.

example:
One of the auctions.
http://floydsauction.net/041505auctionw.html
That whole palette of imacs went for 15.00

 

[IL2SturmovikPilot]

Keep them as spare monitors,just in case something happens to your LCD or you get a new PC but can't afford a monitor,you can use them as temporary monitor(s) thats what i'm gonna do when i build a Lanbox

 

[Modelworks]

I forgot , you can always use one as tv.
I have a 17" that I use connected to the second connection on my video card, mainly to display tv.

 

[vailr]

Office Depot offers cardboard recycling cartons/boxes,
http://www.officedepot.com/a/p.../pages/0928_recycling/
that you purchase and then can put any surplus electronics items, and give back to them.

 

[jaqie]

two great consumer reusing forums that are national (or even global!)
freecycle.org
craigslist.org

 

[0roo0roo]

they cost too much to ship
faded image/eye strain=worthless
power consumptions not worth it either.
lcds come a long way in quality and price.
and yea disposal is a pain, check your garbage company, they sometimes have annual pickup/drop off of electronic waste
unless its heinously high end like those wide screen 24" types ok for gaming its worthless.

 

[Brian48]

I had a bunch of them left over when I upgraded everyone in the family to LCDs. I couldn't give them away even though they still worked perfectly fine. None of my family or friends wanted them. I put them out in front of the house and stuck signs on them "Free monitor - works fine". Still, no one wanted them.

I wounded up calling the city and having them picked up for proper disposal.