My laptop died in the spring, and we bought a new computer. The old laptop has been sitting collecting dust for the last six months. With painting the office, and a self-enforced purge of old and useless (to me) items, the laptop had to go. But where?
I've been reading about e-waste and all the toxic yuckies that end up in the landfill. I definitely did not want to add to the problem. I checked with our city, and it holds an e-waste collection day about twice a year. We missed it for the spring and I don't want to wait until late fall.
The city also provided a link to the "Do What You Can" website. "Do What You Can" (http://www.dowhatyoucan.ca/) is an Ontario Government program, run by the Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES), a non-profit industry organization. The program encourages reuse and safe recycling of old, used and unwanted electronic equipment.
A quick check on the website let me know that there were 4 stores in my area that would take back my electronic waste for recycling. I was all set to drop my laptop off there, when my SIL called. After a short conversation, I found out that her nephew is looking for old computers to take the guts out of for his technical projects. I offered my laptop to him on the condition that he return the shell and any unwanted components for recycling.
So my laptop is on its way to help a student with his projects, and then off to a better place where its leftover components will be broken down and recycled into new things.
Ahh... Your old laptop certainly served you well. Disposing it the proper way spares the environment from harm, and giving it to your nephew for reference is an added bonus. If every laptop user disposes his/her laptop this way, then there would be lesser toxic substances that the environment would have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Max. I'm hopeful that others will think to e-cycle their electronics instead of putting them in the landfill. Our community recently held an e-cycle waste day, and collected over 146,000 lbs of eletronic waste! I'm proud to say that I belong to this community.
ReplyDeleteHey, sorry to hear about your old laptop. E-waste collection does a great favor for the environment, as this prevents toxic substances from harming us. What's great about this project is that it can help IT students study the components of a computer without having to spend a lot.
ReplyDeleteYes, his project was successful, and I confirmed that the leftover parts got recycled properly. Definately a win-win situation.
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