What do you do with old computers/monitors?

[rflorek]

I took out the hard drive and brought it to my county's recycling center. A couple of times per month, you can bring consumer electronics there for free.

 

[hopemax]

In Scottsdale, one of the local Boy Scout troops holds an electronics swap meet once a month, and as part of that, they collect old electronics for disposal. We pull the hard drives, but we've taken old CPU's, monitors, scanner, printer, tvs, various cables. You could see if there is a troop that does the same in your area.

 

[Tricia911]

Give them away on Freecycle. to find one near you try Freecycle.org

 

[jlima]

Here in Las Vegas a local charity called The Blind Center of Southern Nevada has a computer recycling program . . .they do charge about $10 - $15 for some items for haz mat disposal.

 

[flowerpower]

We're fortunate in my city- we have weekly curbside metal pick up (electronics, computer, and any item made of metal- unlimited amount) that is part of our trash fee. You call into the voicemail and listen to the dates of the next scheduled pick up.

As I understand, it is a luctrative operation for the company that provides this third party service.

 

[Cindy B]

There is also a handheld device that wipes the drive as well. Now, this may not be available in a usual store but you can order it.

DH has been doing this stuff for a very long time and has one of these devices.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our town picks up these items once a week, if we call. I think DH hit it with a sledge hammer first.

 

[Sandy321]

Because its hazardous to remove the gold. Doing so involves toxic chemicals that release stuff into the air from my understanding. It is possible he is just pulling off the visible gold, but then he still ends up tossing lots of possible metal. And along with the metal, he is tossing some toxic stuff. The CPU's aren't usually hard to dispose, its the monitors with the gases that are really bad.

Thanks for that information!! He works or owns a business, I got the impression it was a recycling center type place - I didnt really pay much attention to it all!