To all your readers in the greater Philadelphia metro area, I would also like to suggest another option for recycling their computer. Quest For Tech (http://questfortech.org) is a non-profit organization that accepts computer donations and refurbishes the machines to donate to schools and other non-profits and also offers classes to help people use these computers in order to help bridge the digital divide. I have been a volunteer there for two years and highly recommend this organization.

A great source for electronics recycling info in the Seattle area is the Take it Back Network sponsored by King and Snohomish counties. www.takeitbacknetwork.org. All participants agree not to ship the e-waste overseas and process it in a safe manner.

For those of you living North of the Border, in British Columbia, SPEC has a good website summarizing the ways to recycle techno-trash in the area:

http://www.spec.bc.ca/greenpages/question.php?questID=45

I often take my stuff to PC Galore:

http://www.pcgalore.com/recycle.asp

As a techie who works with home and small business computer users, I get the question "what do I do with my old computer/monitor/printer/cellphone" a lot, but the answer remains the same - there is no good solid reliable recycler that handles everything and doesn't want to charge you for it. This article just repeated it. There are small local piecemeal efforts, but nothing state-wide, nothing national, nothing that covers rural areas.

I have a hard time finding a reputable recycler for Maryland (Baltimore and District of Columbia area). Does anyone have suggestions?

In Los Angeles last year I found only one place that would accept a couple of computer monitors and other pieces of equipment. This came after making days of calls and following the dots all over L.A. County.

As it turned out there was one government contracted facility for all of the San Fernando Valley where you could deliver these types of items.

Office Depot which had advertised a recyling program had such a big response that they stopped and I was told to check back in a few months or next year for another date!

Goodwill DID NOT accept ANY type of computer equipment at 3 centers within a mile of where I live. When calling their main office for Los Angeles that message was confirmed as well.

Since the items were in working order I tried to find somewhere in the huge maze of educational institutions in greater L.A. to donate them.

Came up with a big zero for that part of the scorecard as well. No one "needed" them!

Recently, a close friend who worked for a small-mid size company that was closing was trying to find a place to recycle a large number of computers and peripherals, etc. Again, it took countless hours to find a place to recycle the stuff. When I did, the pick-up almost fell through when there was a miscommunication between the dispatcher and the truckers.

The North Texas PC Users Group (NTPCUG) and the Texas Center for Physically Impaired have combined their resources to refurbish computers for the visually impaired. These computers are distributed for free. Here are two links, which will provide more information for anyone in the Dallas - Fort Worth area, who wants to donate computers to this project.

Who to contact to donate computers to this project:

http://www.ntpcug.org/donate.shtml

NTPCUG won the Association for PC User Group's Jerry Award in 2004

http://www.ntpcug.org/_JerryAwardApplication/index.html

Microsoft has a program, where they certify computer refurbishers, which has the designation of MAR for Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher. The URL below will provide information to other community service projects, which are being run by MARs.

Find out about Recycled Hardware:

http://www.techsoup.org/products/recycle

Learn how to Donate Hardware:

http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=144&

How to find Recycled Hardware:

http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=145&

Ten Tips for Donating a Computer

http://www.techsoup.org/products/recycle/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=524

MARs:

http://www.techsoup.org/mar

Yes, people who recycle computers are doing good, but really: try packing a computer if you haven't saved the original shipping cartons. If I saved mine I would have no room to sleep. Next, cross-examine the recycler with all these questions. I can hardly blame people who are uncomfortable with this or think it won't lead to honest answers any way. Finally, the q about wiping hard drives: if you give away your computer with the hard drive in it, you're an idiot, if a sympathetic idiot.

First, thank you for writing on a topic that definitely needs to be highlighted, and understood by consumers.

However, when consumers are already deluged by information, and with little time and energy to spare from their demanding jobs (& TV watching schedules!), it would be more helpful if the information and links provided filter out as much of the extraneous/ unhelpful links & references as possible leaving a crisp, concise and useful article.

For example, you mention that organizations like E-Bay, Compumentor, and even the EPA, provide info on recyclers who "have not been vetted or approved by these organizations in any way" - yet the article goes on to provide links to several of these sites. The one link that needed to be highlighted was the BAN ( Basel Action Network) site and their list of recyclers.

Most people are going to feel daunted by the opening paragraphs and the suggestion (however sensible it might be) to "to ask hard questions and demand real answers" - when simply contacting the "responsible recyclers" on the BAN site (who have been selected based on certain clearly defined criteria) - would be a great first step. And yes, we do need to think about "most people" - not just those who are already highly aware & losing sleep over e-waste - since the former make up the bulk of e-users (and consequently, e-waste generators) - and therefore, an incremental improvement in their recycling (attitudes and habits) will get things moving in the right direction and lead to desired results.

Yes, it makes for a longer article, but is it really helping the reader or supporting the objective of the article? [I suppose that as long as magazines and sites, even the enlightened ones, pay per word, this trend is not an easy one to reverse. This is not a comment on any one person but the system in general!]

For an article like this ("How to ...?"), focusing on brief and pragmatic solutions (in the order of their usefulness and impact/likely adoption) would perhaps be most beneficial. As such I am hesitant to forward this article to anyone as the chances or their wading through the initial paragraphs and reaching the valuable kernel of information towards the end (actually somewhere between the middle and the end!) is rather slim. In summary, a quick re-write/edit would make this good article great!

Otherwise a useful and necessary article (along with the one on e-waste exporting and recycling overseas). My thanks & best wishes to the author for keeping us informed on this important issue.

Auri -at-

Art-of-Innovation.com