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RSS FeedNew Life for Old Computers |
Posted at Helpful Tips by Marty Bautista
Apr. 28, 2008
Tagged with: recycle computers green
According to the National Safety Council, approximately 63 million computers became obsolete in 2005. So what can you do when it's time to ditch your old computer? Many organizations accept computer donations (as long as the computer is in good condition and meets certain requirements), which are generally tax deductible. To learn more about the donation of electronics to schools, charities and nonprofit organizations, visit www.Earth911.org.
If your computer is too outdated to donate, you should consider recycling. Computers are made with a variety of elements, like plastics, glass, steel, gold, lead, mercury, cadmium and fire retardants that can be reused. If thrown away, these computers can release toxins into the environment, potentially polluting the water and air. Recycling the resources in computers also eliminates the need to obtain these elements from nature, decreasing production impacts on the environment. To learn more about recycling your computer, go to www.electronicsrecycling.org.
No matter what option you choose, don't forget to remove personal information from your computer. Experts recommend using professional disk cleaning software to delete your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history, e-mail contacts and messages, documents, recycle or trash folder and nontransferable software. The best thing to do is to use a disk-cleaning utility that overwrites data so it can't be recovered.
