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What Should I Do With My Tech Junk?
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Tue Aug 12, 2008 08:06 AM
from the i-got-a-whole-closet-full dept.
from the i-got-a-whole-closet-full dept.
Thomas Matysik writes "I'm attempting to de-clutter my house and I've hit a rough patch: the computer room. I've got a bunch of wires, hardware and software that (I think) were useful at one point in time, but these days it doesn't do much more than take up space. Selling it seems like it'd be a huge hassle and it seems really wasteful for me to just pitch all of this stuff in the dumpster. I've considered giving it away to Goodwill, but I'm afraid that's not the right sort of outlet for this stuff. My question: what should I do with all of my tech junk?"
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put it on ebay (Score:5, Funny)
There comes a point... (Score:5, Informative)
Short answer is...at some point, you really do have to say fuck it, and throw it in the trash.
Once I've accepted that, my home suddenly isn't cluttered, has more space and room for me to actually use the stuff I do have that is useful!!
At some point, it IS worth it to throw it all to the curb, and let the garbagemen take it away.
At the very least, put the stuff you think might be useful outtside or on top of the cans. Down here in New Orleans...often that stuff will disappear overnight. I've left old monitors and computers and gear out overnight for the trash, and very rarely do I ever see it in the morning still on the pile. If the stuff isn't good enough for the dumpster divers, then off it goes to 'trash land'.
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Funny)
I've found the best way to get junk to disappear overnight is to put a sign on it reading "For sale: $10"
Parent
A similar idea (Score:5, Informative)
Here's what I do. Put your stuff on the curb the day after the garbage truck shows up so it will sit there for the next six days. Put a note on it.
Air Conditioner: Free. Works but it's a bit noisy, but yours if you want it.
Lawn Mower: Free. A bit smoky, has a loose rear wheel. Yours if you want it.
Those are two I've done. Both went somewhere before the next garbage day. Just stick a note on it and say it's free, and what might be wrong with it. I'd try something like this:
Old computer stuff: Free. Outdated, but worked the last time I used it. Yours if you want it.
Parent
Re:A similar idea (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Laws/Schmaws (Score:5, Funny)
In some places this is against the law. I know where I live you are not allowed to put out your garbage until after 4pm the night before pick-up.
So put it out in front of a neighbor's house. At night. When God is sleeping.
Parent
Re:A similar idea (Score:5, Funny)
I don't even need a sign and people take stuff out of my yard. Maybe I should move to a better neighborhood.
Parent
Re:A similar idea (Score:5, Funny)
BTW, where did you get your sign?
Parent
Re:A similar idea (Score:5, Informative)
On sites like Craigslist if you look under the free section you see stuff just like that all the time. It sounds like a good idea if you want to make sure the stuff gets used and not just thrown away.
Parent
Re:A similar idea (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Informative)
I've left old monitors and computers and gear out overnight for the trash
Computers and misc gear aren't that bad in the big scheme of things, but please, take CRTs to a recycler. Those things are full of nasty heavy metals and chemicals. Even if "everyone does it" they're bad enough that saving yours from the landfill makes a difference.
OK, OK, so the "recycler" will just ship it to China where it will be melted down in the open but that's another rant.
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:4, Interesting)
You try to give it away, sell it, kid yourself that you'll find "some use" for it some day.
I met a rich old man once (early 1980s) who said the secret to his success was never throw anything away. A friend of his needed some cash when the Great Depression hit, to buy a couple of mules and a wagon. So he bought his friend's old Model-T ford for fifteen bucks, just as a favor. He had no use for it and stored it in his barn.
Some time in the 1950s someone saw it and paid the guy a hundred thousand dollars for it, which was quite a sum of cash back then. He invested the hundred grand and was a multimillionaire when I met him.
My main computer went titsup a couple of months ago, so I dragged an old one out of the baseement. Last weekend I finally got around to moving the hard drives from the PC with the bad power supply to the old Dell someone had given me.
The Dell had only one power cable for a hard drive; there were no spares. Looking through all my computer junk I found an old chip fan that was powered by a jumper cable with a male drive power supply on one end and a female on the other. I cut the double drive supply out of the broken computer, and spliced it to half of the supply for the chip fan.
Probably saved myself five or ten bucks, certainly it took less time than a trip to Best Buy or Radio Shack.
If you have room for it, keep it.
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Interesting)
I met a rich old man once (early 1980s) who said the secret to his success was never throw anything away.
That would have to be one really cherry car to have gotten that much for it in the 50's!
But for every millionaire that happen to collect the right thing, the old baseball card or rare comic book, I'll bet there are at least 100 old people with newspaper and trash stacked to the ceiling because they can't force themselves to part with any of it.
I go by the 3 rules of cleaning out junk:
1. Am I using it now? If yes, then keep.
2. Is it something sentimental? If yes, then keep (and maybe find a way to display it instead of it sitting in a box gathering dust.)
3. Is it something that I might find a use for later? THROW IT OUT!
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Funny)
3. Is it something that I might find a use for later? THROW IT OUT!
You've convinced me; I'm tossing those snow shovels out today!
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Insightful)
If the machine runs,ask you local churches if anyone needs a free PC. I just gave away a 366MHz Celeron running dual boot DSL and Win98SE and there is a single mom out there whose kid is doing his homework on it using DSL. I have run into several folks whom I have given computers to over the years and they are still running quite happily,though they have usually passed through a few hands by then. You can also use the Open Office Wizard to take any old machine with DSL or Puppy installed and turn it into a single purpose appliance.
There is a really nice local church that does a lot of work with migrant workers that is using an old 233MHz with 128Mb of RAM that I got from an office upgrade as a simple database. I took all of twenty minutes running the Open Office Base wizard a few times and now they are using it to keep track of donations of food and money,patron lists,mailing lists,etc. There are a lot of folks out there that could use a running machine,and DSL and Puppy run beautifully on as little as a 200Mhz with 96Mb,so stuff we would consider junk can still be quite useful. As for working parts either Goodwill or Freecycle will work,and I have gotten parts to finish out a donated machine out of Goodwill in the past. I hope this helps,and remember that stuff we consider old crap could be really useful to someone who has almost nothing. But as always this is my 02c,YMMV
Parent
Re:There comes a point... (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Give It Away (Score:5, Insightful)
Ive been working on computers since i was 12 (im 21) and 50% of everything i learned has been from computers people gave me. :( )
I think one of the most beneficiary things you could do is put an add in the paper for some kid to come and take it. Especially if its routers/switches, mobiles devices. You could give someone the chance to learn from equipment that they cant afford to buy (or their parents). I know that myself getting stuff like that helped me get the IT job i have today. And Every chance i get I try to pawn my computer 'junk' off on a kiddy so he has a chance to mess around with different technology. Some of the things I always liked to get:
- Sparc Stations (non PC platforms are like tech pr0n)
- routers/switches (anything to connected computers together, token ring? i never got any of that
-scsi (een if its old, its still the whole point, an old scsi storage unit, or tape drives)
- laptops, PDAs, (always fun to have)
- odd systems (486DX with Overdrive(R) technology) Even the old computers are still fun (386 with scsi ?)
- old servers (especially)
the plus side to this, is then you dont hav to worry about throwing it away, and you'll be Serving a full portion to a kids appetite for knowledge. Hope this helps
Parent
Re:Give It Away (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Give It Away (Score:5, Insightful)
For example, you take the old Pentium II you have and install DSL on it, and the kid learns Linux. Knowing Linux, he saves money on technology throughout his life and gets a good job as a sysadmin.
I wouldn't wish sysadmin on my worst enemy, let alone my kid. I'd rather he got typhus.
You know how those mafia types always want to keep their kids out of the family business? Because they feel like they deserve better? Because they know the horrible truth? Yeah.
Parent
I Keep My Junk (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been working at home as a consultant (software engineering) for over 15 years. Doing a lot of embedded programming, I've accumulated lots of custom and COTS hardware over the years that I almost never use. The problem is the word "almost." On a rare occasion some suspected bug gets reported and I have to dig out some hardware that I haven't used in years and get it working again. After verifying that the suspected bug is really user error, I then pack it away in the basement.
So for me, I just keep everything. It's all worthless, anyhow. How much would someone pay for a Hayes 2400 baud modem? Or a 68040 based Mac running System 7? Or an 802.11 (not a, b, or g) Access Point? I also have early 802.11-draft wireless equipment if that sweetens the deal for anyone. :)
Re:I Keep My Junk (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, that Hayes modem is worth about $400 to the right customer. Specifically some poor bloke who does old-school business alarms.
True story: Big Storm rolls through town with the full set of pyrotechnics. Blows up my very expensive US Robotics Courier HST modem. I was sad. But not as sad as the alarm company dude who rolls into the computer store the following morning desperate for a modem that'll do 110 baud. 'Cause that's the fastest his gear runs. We have boxes and boxes of modems but they all bottom out at 300 baud. But! Inventory shows that we have an original Hayes 2400 in stock. I and another tech spend half an hour digging it out. Sure enough, it goes down to 110 baud. Dude asks the boss what its price is, boss points at the sticker on the (unopened! shrink-wrapped!) box which says $399.95. Fellow turns red and stammers. Boss shrugs and tells us to return the box to the bowels of the stockroom. Fellow about has a stroke and then asks if we take a business check. Boss smiles and takes the desperate man's money.
Parent
Flea Market (Score:5, Interesting)
It depends on where you live, but there may be a flea market specifically for this sort of stuff that you can give away for free. If you are within traveling distance to Boston, MIT holds an event called the "SwapFest" which is precisely that. You need to pay a small fee to sell, and then can give away stuff for free, or actually take money for the more expensive equipment. More info at http://www.swapfest.us/ [swapfest.us]
Greater Baltimore Hamboree and ComputerFest (Score:4, Informative)
In the Baltimore area, there's the Greater Baltimore Hamboree and ComputerFest [gbhc.org] every spring. My uncle, an electrical engineer, took me once when I was in high school, and I've been back several times since.
It's a blast! Make sure you browse the outdoor tables, too. This place really exemplifies the adage "One person's trash is another person's treasure."
Parent
Re:Flea Market (Score:5, Informative)
You can also check out Freecycle [freecycle.org] in many major cities.
Parent
Re:Flea Market (Score:4, Informative)
There are also Freecycle groups in some not-so-major cities, too. I live in a town of about 45,000, and we have one. You're a little less likely to find a taker for obscure stuff than in a bigger city, but it's worth a shot.
Parent
Re:Flea Market (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not affiliated with them either, but I HAVE used them.
They're pretty good if you have a lot of stuff. In our case we did, so they sent a truck and two guys over. You make an appointment for a certain day at a certain time, for a certain duration. They were pretty punctual.
Basically the guy (or guys) follow you around, you point at something, they put it in the truck. As long as it's something that can be reasonably picked up and moved they'll take it. They you pay based on how full the truck is, and they drive off. Not a bad deal if you have volume to deal with.
Parent
Bring it to a recycling centre (Score:5, Informative)
As for goodwill, don't bother with anything below P-III class machines or higher. Even that's starting to be stuff they don't take anymore.
Re:Bring it to a recycling centre (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Bring it to a recycling centre (Score:5, Interesting)
Scrap centers are everywhere. I live in a rural area, and there are several places that accept this stuff. It's just kind of 'known' around here as to who takes it. Not sure how you would locate them...Yellowpages under Scrap maybe?
What you will have to dissassemble probably depends on what it is and where you take it. Cabling you can bring in insulation and all...some places want the plug ends removed though, some don't. Once you locate one, they can tell you exactly what they will take. Many places even take old refrigerators, washers/dryers, etc. whole.
Parent
Re:Bring it to a recycling centre (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd have some reservations about taking it to many "recyclers". Some actually perform the recycling and metals reclaimation themselves, but many more just take all the equipment to the Third World (Africa and South Asia seem to be popular) and dump it there [mailonsunday.co.uk].
Anyone taking old IT junk for free or without charging significantly for its disposal is almost certainly dumping. Although there is a significant precious-metals content in them, it's not (yet) worth the labor required to reclaim it in the developed world. (Which is why you don't see people soliciting e-waste in the same way they do scrap metal or junk cars.) It's a lucrative business when you can employ starving children to do it, but not so much otherwise.
Parent
List of BAN-approved e-waste recyclers (Score:4, Interesting)
Just as a follow-up ... anyone considering taking e-waste to a recycler should first check to see if the recycler is listed here [ban.org] as having been approved by the Basel Action Network (an anti-dumping group). The list includes "e-Waste recyclers that have agreed to adhere to strict criteria [...] The criteria require that no hazardous electronics equipment or parts (as defined internationally) will be exported to developing countries or be processed by captive prison labor, and that none of it will end up in landfills or incinerators."
As far as I know, it's the only (somewhat) reliable way to know that a "recycler" isn't just exporting the trash to the developing world. Many recyclers talk a lot about the environment, but don't give very many specifics about what actually happens to e-waste you drop off (besides vague platitudes like "in accordance with all State and Federal laws" which means little given how minimal most laws concerning e-waste are). That's because they may just be loading it into containers bound for the other side of the planet.
Parent
Re:Except for CRTs (Score:5, Insightful)
Which is precisely why you see so much illegal dumping in areas where the local or state government tries to enforce pay-to-recycle schemes.
It's Human Nature; People will gladly recycle if they can just leave it by the curb to be picked up. But if they have to take time out of their busy days (and really, who isn't incredibly busy anymore?) to drive their old whatever down to the designated recycling center, make sure it is sorted properly by type and/or material, lug it from the car into the center and possibly stand in line waiting to have it taken, then they find they have to pay? Nope, most folks will either try and hide the "recyclable" junk in with the rest of the trash, find a lonely country road and dump it in the ditch, or in the case of old PC stuff, simply hang onto it for a stupily long amount of time.
This happened in microcosm in my area. A local upscale township tried to enforce a pay-to-recycle program on it's residents. Just to be clear, these were the local semi-wealthy. Tenured College Professors, Doctors, Lawyers, Businessmen and Executives. Well educated and active citizens. Not your stereotypical poor slouches from crapsville who don't know jack about recycling. The town used to just take everything, and had no recycling plan. Pressure from local activists to start a recycling initiative and some newly elected leftist town government members pushed through the pay-to-recycle scheme and law against NOT recycling. Within a week of the new plan and law illegal dumping and incidents of recyclables mixed in with the regular trash skyrocketed through the roof. People were simply unwilling to take the time and pay the extra money to bother with recycling. Even in the face of potentially large fines. This went on for well over a year, and only escalated over time.
The township tried making everyone switch to clear plastic garbage bags, so that the garbagemen could see if there were recyclables. People just put the recyclables inside white kitchen garbage bags or paper bags and then put those in the clear bags. Or they ignored the clear bag law and continued using black plastic bags. The town offered to give people special recycling bins and to take the recycling away for them for a monthly fee (read: special tax) THAT went over like a lead balloon at the next town meeting.
Eventually the outcry from the residents and from the garbagemans union (about being forced to become "garbage cops") forced the town to rework it's plan. They made a deal with the local recycling company: The town recieved special recycling bins from the recyling company, and then distributed those to the residents at no additional charge. They then set up a special team of recycling trucks (re-purposed garbage trucks) that just collected recyclables from the bins, and would then take them to the center. The private recycler took care of sorting and recycling the junk. In the end, the town ended up turning a small profit after about a year due to the large amount of recyclables turned in at the private recycling company. Illegal dumping dropped off to the minimal level it was at before the forced pay-to-recycle plan, and most of the surrounding towns, including my own, have adopted the same type of plan. Why not? It works.
Oh, and the morons that thought up the stupid pay-to-recycle scheme? Voted out of office the next election cycle. Ain't Karma grand?
Parent
Isn't it obvious? (Score:4, Informative)
Have you considered recycling it [epa.gov]?
Similar programs exist elsewhere in the civilized world. STFW and you'll probably find somewhere nearby that will be happy to take your junk off of your hands.
What they will do with it is anybody's guess, but at least it won't be sitting around your house any more.
FreeCycle and computer/metal recycling. (Score:5, Informative)
That's how I've gotten rid of most of my accumulated junk.
Rgds
Damon
Re:FreeCycle and computer/metal recycling. (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Freecycle (Score:5, Informative)
Freecycle it.
I've come to really appreciate the power of Freecycle.
You give stuff away, so it's kinda like taking it to the charity shop, except that (a) the person who gets it is usually someone who really wants it, and (b) they come and pick it up, so you don't even have to take it anywhere.
And if you post it on freecycle and no-one is interested, then you can do what you were planning anyway and take it to the charities.
So consider freecycle for this. And if you're doing a mass clear-out as you said in your post, I'd suggest considering it for all the other stuff you're getting rid of.
Bonefire! (Score:5, Funny)
Simple, combine them (Score:4, Funny)
Hobby? (Score:4, Informative)
Here's my idea (Score:5, Funny)
Vacuum-bag your electronic junk.
Go out camping in a rugged area.
Dig a hole, and bury your stuff.
Gather some rocks and place them in a cool design on top of your electronics.
Cover the rocks with more dirt.
That should be enough to screw with the heads of future archeologists.
Re:Here's my idea (Score:5, Interesting)
Drop in some coins from the 1940s as well. Just to really and make sure that there are no manufacturing date on the stuff as well.
On and translate the manuals into Latin and put it on stone tablets.
Parent
Get married. (Score:4, Funny)
Then at some point your wife will demand that you get rid of some of that junk.
Considering the alternative, you will find it quite easy to decide what to throw out, and quickly, before bedtime...
Put it on the altar (Score:4, Interesting)
Go to Rhodes Hall.
Outside of the big lecture room, in the hallway, actually behind where the lecturer would stand are two counter tops.
Leave your computer hardware, software or books there.
If you see anything you like, take it with you. This is the sacrificial altar to the gods of geekdom. All are welcome to take or remove and tech/geek item you want. Much of it is reused by students making insane projects.
Re:Craigslist (Score:5, Funny)
It'll disappear even faster if you leave it outside, marked "$10". You have to go inside though.
Parent
Re:Just Imagine! (Score:5, Insightful)
Compared to even today's bargain hardware, stuff 5-6 years old doesn't even have the processor power to justify the electricity/waste heat/noise.
Parent
Re:Just Imagine! (Score:5, Insightful)
You have to be a total moron to use old computers for distributed computing. The amount of electricity you waste and heat you generate is ridiculous considering you can replicate the computing power of dozens of older systems with a single new box which uses the same amount of electricity as a single node of the old systems.
Sure, there's something to be said for using them as an educational tool, but again, you're still better off getting a newer high powered box and just running a virtualization environment on it to mess around with distributed parallel computing environments.
Parent
Re:Find a kid (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:As mentioned in yesterday's Africa discussion.. (Score:5, Funny)
I'd love to think that there's some 8-year-old kid out there crouched in front of an old monochrome amber monitor yelling "XYZZY!" "PLUGH!" and "THESE TWISTY PASSAGES ARE ALL ALIKE!" instead of bitching about how all his friends have an XBox 360...
Parent