What Should I Do With My Tech Junk?

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?"

Comments

I Keep My Junk

[kmsigel]

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

[RedDirt]

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.

Flea Market

[hahafaha]

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/

Re:Bring it to a recycling centre

[Kadin2048]

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.

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.

Re:FreeCycle and computer/metal recycling.

[mitgib]

I was going to suggest this very thing, try FreeCycle, in the past I had a small computer repair shop and would always offer a home for old junk, assemble decent, yet old, systems with that old junk, load Linux and give it away to area shelters to further pass em along to the (computer) needy in the area. Hopefully somebody found a job with one of those old junkers and is no longer needy.

List of BAN-approved e-waste recyclers

[Kadin2048]

Just as a follow-up ... anyone considering taking e-waste to a recycler should first check to see if the recycler is listed here 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.

Re:Here's my idea

[LWATCDR]

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.

Re:Bring it to a recycling centre

[Kamokazi]

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.

Re:There comes a point...

[penguin_dance]

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!