| If your computer broke tomorrow and it was | | | | Aside from the battery leaking acid in a |
| beyond repair, what would you do with it? | | | | waste heap, other environmental concerns are |
| Well chances are that after slamming it | | | | with toner or ink from printers, glass pieces |
| against the wall in a fit of rage, you're | | | | from tiny light bulbs, and other wires and |
| going to throw it in the trashcan in your | | | | metal pieces tangled inside every computer. |
| garage. Alongside all the other | | | | Luckily, there are companies that deal with |
| non-recyclable trash your household created | | | | computer disposal or refurbishing to make |
| this week, the trash men will come pick it | | | | your job a lot easier. If you feel the need |
| up, condense it in their truck, and dump it | | | | to bash your computer against the wall in a |
| into a huge pile of waste. The huge pile of | | | | fit of rage, simply wrap it up and send it to |
| waste will be compacted even more, and then | | | | a computer disposal company who will, |
| sent out to some island where all the huge | | | | oftentimes for free, properly dispose of your |
| piles of your garbage go. Sounds simple, | | | | computer. If your computer stops working or |
| right? | | | | you simply care to invest in an updated |
| | | | version, then there are companies who you can |
| Sure, it's simple enough; until a bird lands | | | | send it to who will pay you for the parts |
| on your crunched piece of laptop and dies | | | | that are still useable and will refurbish the |
| from exposure to the acid that leaked out of | | | | computer so they can re-sell it or donate it |
| the battery. Gasp! "Alright," you say to | | | | to a low-income family or agency once it |
| yourself, "I'll take the battery out and burn | | | | works again. |
| it in my backyard instead of throwing it in | | | | |
| the trash." Well unless you'd like an | | | | One might think, "Well, I know of a charity |
| explosion in your backyard, then no, you | | | | that could really use my old computer. I will |
| should NOT burn any old battery solely | | | | donate it on my own". Not so fast, buddy. |
| because you know is it wrong to throw it in | | | | Donating an older computer to an organization |
| the trash. | | | | that you think could really use it doesn't |
| | | | always work out so well. In many instances, |
| So what exactly do you do with this battery? | | | | the computer will cease to work after a |
| How about all the other parts of the computer | | | | couple of months, and the organization might |
| that still function? After you consider all | | | | have to spend more money to repair it. It is |
| of the minute details that go into making a | | | | poor etiquette to donate something when you |
| computer work, and you realize that your | | | | are not quite sure of its value. If you'd |
| computer might be broken beyond repair but | | | | rather not give cash, some businesses will |
| that the tiny pieces could function perfectly | | | | take your old computer and send the cash |
| in someone else's computer, it seems like a | | | | value of its remaining parts to an |
| big waste to be disposing of the entire thing | | | | organization of your choice. |
| with one careless toss into the garbage. Not | | | | |
| only would you be polluting the environment, | | | | The bottom line is that there are many |
| adding to the amount of waste your family | | | | different things you can and should do with a |
| creates, and putting innocent animals at | | | | computer that you no longer want as your own. |
| danger with the improper disposal of your | | | | For the same reasons that you taught your |
| computer, but you would also be wasting | | | | children how to recycle, that you turn off |
| hundreds of dollars worth of useful items in | | | | the lights when you leave a room, and because |
| a computer that can probably be refurbished | | | | you try to take only as much food as you are |
| anyways. | | | | prepared to eat at a buffet table, you should |
| | | | dispose of or recycle your PC properly. |