Recycle!!!!!

I recently learned of a wonderful organization that recycles old computers, components, and peripherals. It is called "Free Geek." As far as I can discern, the movement started in Portland, OR, but they now have recycling centers over much of the United States. The web site of the Portland operation is: http://www.freegeek.org/. If you want to find one in your area, simply Google "free geek". I recently took a lot of stuff to one near my home. It is located in Ephrata, PA and is called "Free Geek Penn." Their web site is: http://www.freegeekpenn.org/

They accept old computers, computer components, and peripherals. If you take a monitor, they ask for a donation to help pay the cost of disposal. Equipment that is useable is used to put together working computers. They might be given to charity, sold in their thrift stores, or given to volunteers who donate a certain number of hours work at the facility. All computers are loaded with open source and other free software.

Everything that is not reusable is stripped down and the materials are then recycled in an appropriate way. Volunteers are used to do the work at the center. As I said before, they are rewarded with a computer system. This gives people a chance to do community service as well as to learn a lot about computer hardware and software. They also accept money donations for the operation. The next time you want to get rid of old computer equipment check into "Free Geeks."