Recycle your dead monitors, old computers, etc., at Office Depot for Free!
- Thread starter KerriAnn
- Start date
This would be really handy to me, except for the fine print, where it says you can only bring in one item per day.
I've got a BUNCH of stuff left over from a buddy going crazy at a school auction, and buying up a ton of old Pentium 1 computers, that's no good for anything other than paperweights!!
I've got a BUNCH of stuff left over from a buddy going crazy at a school auction, and buying up a ton of old Pentium 1 computers, that's no good for anything other than paperweights!!
You can always do what a friend of mine did upon finding this out. He had six old, dead 14" & 15" monitors lying in his garage. Well in Cali it cost's about $25 just to dump these each! :Q
Anyway he went to OD before they opened and left them outside their door. What were they going to do, throw them away?
I thought it was little rude myself. Also if you have more than on OD you can take one item to each if needed or keep going back day after day.
Anyway he went to OD before they opened and left them outside their door. What were they going to do, throw them away?
I thought it was little rude myself. Also if you have more than on OD you can take one item to each if needed or keep going back day after day.
Anyone know if it's possible to get some of the dropped-off stuff for free? I'm always in the market for parts, even old ones. I'm a packrat.
I think even suggesting dropping off multiple monitors before the store opens is inappropriate and the post should be removed. (nothing personal as you stated you thought it was kind of rude....)
1. It is probably illegal.
2. By doing this you are ruining the opportunity for everyone else.
2. You bought the monitor, deal with it.
In my mind it is on the same level as dumping your car/garbage on the side of the road because some one will clean it up.....
Thanks,
Bob
1. It is probably illegal.
2. By doing this you are ruining the opportunity for everyone else.
2. You bought the monitor, deal with it.
In my mind it is on the same level as dumping your car/garbage on the side of the road because some one will clean it up.....
Thanks,
Bob
Originally posted by: TechSerf
You can always do what a friend of mine did upon finding this out. He had six old, dead 14" & 15" monitors lying in his garage. Well in Cali it cost's about $25 just to dump these each! :Q
Anyway he went to OD before they opened and left them outside their door. What were they going to do, throw them away?
I thought it was little rude myself. Also if you have more than on OD you can take one item to each if needed or keep going back day after day.
wow, can you just throw them away in a dumpster?
Throw em away in the dumpster!?!? You know how much lead is in a monitor?
A good read for all who doesn't know about how important computer recycling is:
http://www.ban.org/Library/ghosts_in.html
and if you have bigger needs for recycling, research who you are doing business with,
Http://www.thegreenpc.com
A good read for all who doesn't know about how important computer recycling is:
http://www.ban.org/Library/ghosts_in.html
and if you have bigger needs for recycling, research who you are doing business with,
Http://www.thegreenpc.com
Wow. I didn't know computers, monitors, and other computer parts had to be recycled that badly =P I'm glad I haven't had to throw anything away yet. Thanks for the heads up!
-=MaStA ViC
i did this last week. had my whole family bring in a pentium 2 system, 486, 286, and an old amdek monitor. w00t.
Well, that answers THAT question.
Two days ago I was taking a short cut behind this strip center to avoid a busy intersection. As I drove by the backside of the OD I couldn't help but notice a huge pile of monitors along with some computer cases. I made an instant stop and started exploring to see what was going on. Hey, free stuff! Right? I loaded up my politically incorrect SUV with 4 monitors and 3 computer cases filled with obvious junk and hit the road with a big smile. Sure, it was obvious that the stuff was all old but you never know what you might find.
The first monitor was a large NEC that must have cost some serious money when it came out. It started right up and the colors were excellent. Bingo, I got a live one. At least for the first few minutes until this really bad burning smell started filling the room. OK, down the hatch. The next one was a 21 inch sucker that screwed my back up going from the garage floor, across the house, and onto my desk. I could hear something rattling around inside while I carried it so it wasn't a surprise when I heard little poping sounds after turning it on. Two loses so far. I haven't had the heart to try the next two monitors.
And the computer cases? Well, it was obvious that there was once a time when cases didn't need fans because two of the cases had nowhere to put one. In fact, one case didn't even seem to have a hole for the exhaust of the power supply. I played around with them all for a while until it became obvious that all I had was a bunch of junk. And now I read that I am going to be a polluter if I toss them into my garbage.
I guess I have until the November election to decide what my environmental views are regarding the disposal of hazardous waste products. If Bush wins maybe I can sell the stuff to Halliburton who can in turn sell it to local businesses in Iraq with a 5000 % markup. If Kerry wins then I will probably be arrested and shipped off to prison in the back of one of his 6 supersized SUVs that he managed to ignore when asked the question of whether HE had any vehicles that were hurting the environment.
Moral of the story? Leave the dumpster diving to the pros who know what is good junk and what is bad junk.
Two days ago I was taking a short cut behind this strip center to avoid a busy intersection. As I drove by the backside of the OD I couldn't help but notice a huge pile of monitors along with some computer cases. I made an instant stop and started exploring to see what was going on. Hey, free stuff! Right? I loaded up my politically incorrect SUV with 4 monitors and 3 computer cases filled with obvious junk and hit the road with a big smile. Sure, it was obvious that the stuff was all old but you never know what you might find.
The first monitor was a large NEC that must have cost some serious money when it came out. It started right up and the colors were excellent. Bingo, I got a live one. At least for the first few minutes until this really bad burning smell started filling the room. OK, down the hatch. The next one was a 21 inch sucker that screwed my back up going from the garage floor, across the house, and onto my desk. I could hear something rattling around inside while I carried it so it wasn't a surprise when I heard little poping sounds after turning it on. Two loses so far. I haven't had the heart to try the next two monitors.
And the computer cases? Well, it was obvious that there was once a time when cases didn't need fans because two of the cases had nowhere to put one. In fact, one case didn't even seem to have a hole for the exhaust of the power supply. I played around with them all for a while until it became obvious that all I had was a bunch of junk. And now I read that I am going to be a polluter if I toss them into my garbage.
I guess I have until the November election to decide what my environmental views are regarding the disposal of hazardous waste products. If Bush wins maybe I can sell the stuff to Halliburton who can in turn sell it to local businesses in Iraq with a 5000 % markup. If Kerry wins then I will probably be arrested and shipped off to prison in the back of one of his 6 supersized SUVs that he managed to ignore when asked the question of whether HE had any vehicles that were hurting the environment.
Moral of the story? Leave the dumpster diving to the pros who know what is good junk and what is bad junk.
Wait one minute, are you telling us that Office Depot is just dumping these cases and are not sending them off to recycling!?
If this is a case, not only is it a SUPER COLD deal, but it should have some serious investigation. Waste Management will be the end of us all, should make false claims to get you in the store and check out the circular. I'm to busy to email Office Depot to get details on their recycling program. I also lack the finesse to get an adequate answer accomplished, but I implore someone else to check it out or get some pics of wrong doing, if such wrong doing exists.
Sorry for the rant, but if he got those monitors; I now doubt he is going to pay $25 a piece to properly dispose of them now which makes their recycling attempt completely useless in this instance. What a waste of a great idea, without adequate supervision.
JG
If this is a case, not only is it a SUPER COLD deal, but it should have some serious investigation. Waste Management will be the end of us all, should make false claims to get you in the store and check out the circular. I'm to busy to email Office Depot to get details on their recycling program. I also lack the finesse to get an adequate answer accomplished, but I implore someone else to check it out or get some pics of wrong doing, if such wrong doing exists.
Sorry for the rant, but if he got those monitors; I now doubt he is going to pay $25 a piece to properly dispose of them now which makes their recycling attempt completely useless in this instance. What a waste of a great idea, without adequate supervision.
JG
im pretty sure they leave it out there so ppl who like to collect junk and find treasures may take a stab @ it. if no one takes it within a week, they'd take it to their own recycling center.
//krunk (^_^x)
VirtualLarry
No Lifer
- Aug 25, 2001
- 56,570
- 10,202
- 126
I don't know this with any certainty, but I've read an investigative story on the web, about how some of these big-name companies' "computer recycling" programs, are nothing more than a NIMBY waste-dumping scheme. They broker them through resellers, and dump the components as hazardous waste somewhere in poor far-eastern regions (China, etc.). The locals are paid off, and make a small profit off of it, but I'm sure that these uncrupulous programs are destroying their natural habitat. (That's really the only difference between the "first world" and the "third world" - we first-worlders dump our trash on the third world countries.)
Now, I'm not saying that I know of anything that suggests that OD's program is doing this, only stating that I am aware (assuming that the article is correct, and I have no reason to doubt) that in some cases it does happen.
If you think about it, "proper" recycling of these archaic technology components is often too expensive to make it worthwhile, and the most expedient way is to "broker" the waste to another "recycler" from another country, and technically, from that point on, responsibility has changed hands, but generally there is knowledge about how the pipeline flows among all parties involved, even if they won't admit it publically.
OTOH, I do know of at least one very small place that used to take mainframe components and recycle them, apparently for some of the older chips and boards, it is possible to reclaim a small amount of gold off of them.
I don't think that most PC components contain much, if any, gold anymore. Older ceramic chip packages used to use it a lot though, for chip-to-pad bond-out, and plating on all of the big connectors, etc.
Oh thank God! I can finally get rid of my Cyrix 486 DLC - 40 MHz machine
Some of yall prolly weren't around when that was the shiznit :laugh:
Some of yall prolly weren't around when that was the shiznit :laugh:
VirtualLarry
No Lifer
- Aug 25, 2001
- 56,570
- 10,202
- 126
Wow, that's so sad. That's not the article that I had read, but the name of the town in China is the same one, so I'm pretty sure that it is talking about the same thing.
It's scary how dangerous and toxic computers are to humanity and the planet. No wonder I can't bring myself to just toss out my old junker machines.
BABY.......
Heck I still fire-up my old PS2 once in a while just for laughs.........
and that was my 3rd pc that I owned.......wow a modded 386 @ 20mgz, 20meg HD and a wopping 16meg of memory that I paid about $500 for because it was microchannel stuff from IBM....
Heck I still fire-up my old PS2 once in a while just for laughs.........
and that was my 3rd pc that I owned.......wow a modded 386 @ 20mgz, 20meg HD and a wopping 16meg of memory that I paid about $500 for because it was microchannel stuff from IBM....
I just quit my job at Office Depot a couple of weeks ago, and they do NOT throw them in a dumpster. They put all the recycled electronics on a pallet and they get shipped to HP. HP has recycling facilities and the dispose of old electronics properly.
Recycling is a HUGE and profitable business. The glass in monitors is full of lead, but its in the freakin glass and poses very little risk, but still triggers the haz mat laws. One of a few things typically happen, working monitors get resold, scratchfree larger screens get packed into containers and shipped to china (and I assume cheaper labor parts swaps to fix them and they get resold in China), otherwise they get ground up in some kind of contained haz mat area. All the computers and misc items get stripped down, boards in one bin (with some chip harvesting going on), other parts each to its own bin, and metal cases palleted for grinding up elsewhere.
Whats kind of crazy about this is that we are shipping off computers by the container full to all the countries that have no copyright enforcement, ie we ship them the hardware cheap so they can use the software free.
Whats kind of crazy about this is that we are shipping off computers by the container full to all the countries that have no copyright enforcement, ie we ship them the hardware cheap so they can use the software free.
Also, recycling centers harvest the precious metals from computer parts to help finance their operations. That isn't copper on your AGP and PCI interconnects.
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