Hack This: Do Right With Your Old, Dead Electronics

There are grown-ass adults in the world that don’t know what to do with dead batteries. I’ve met them; I’ve even been one. So, it’s no stretch to think that there are grown-ass adults in the world that don’t know how to get rid of used electronics.

• See also: What You Think You Know About e-Waste is Wrong

An American household right now has, on average, 25 items of consumer electronics. We want to help you do the right thing with those, for the state of New York and for Mother Nature or for the kids in West Africa or China, where e-waste is more often than not scrapped unceremoniously, with cancerous consequences.

It so happens that New York state passed a law last week requiring electronics manufacturers to provide a disposal method to their customers for their crap that is free and easy and good for the environment. Good lookin’ out. And in 2015, it won’t matter a whit if you care about the environment or not: New York state is making throwing electronics away in the regular trash illegal, on threat of exile to New Jersey. Ouch.

But that will take awhile to really kick in. Here’s some ideas for smarter disposal in the meantime. As you can see, there’s a spectrum with this, depending on how “involved” you want to get and how much you have to get rid of.

Best Buy They take anything for recycling, whether your bought it there or not. The catch is that Best Buy works with third-parties for removal, who work yet more third-parties for disposal (or reuse). It’s not a system that inspires a whole lot of confidence, but going through Best Buy is wicked easy.

Dell Reconnect Dell takes any brand of computer in any condition, and “just about anything that can be attached to a computer.” This is pretty cool. If your electronic junk is still working, Reconnect will place it with a charity—and, if it’s not, it will recycle the electronics and donate the value of them to charity. What’s more, Dell is partnered with Goodwill for drop-off locations.

Close the Gap Close the Gap is great, but only for organizations/companies and not individuals. Nonetheless, as a company, knowing your stuff is going to a developing nation via the good-guys and not some skeezy salvage-for-profit crew, counts for a lot. “By supplying developing countries with high-quality refurbished IT equipment that is donated by Western countries, Close the Gap creates practical, social and sustainable solutions that enable people to bring about a true change in their lives through the use of IT,” says their website.

Interconnection.org This is a company in Seattle that takes working laptops less than five-years-old and gets them into the hands of non-profits and NGOs. You don’t have to be a business to donate, and they offer free shipping. Interconnection also has the Crushinator:

Ecosquid Maybe that old laptop has some value after all. There’s a number of companies out there that buy old electronics, and Ecosquid is your one-stop for connecting with them (a Travelocity of sorts for unloading old electronics). If it turns out your old bricked cell phone is worth jack, the website will point you to a recycling program (like Best Buy’s or Apple’s).

As a closing note, make sure your hard drive is wiped or destroyed; you never know who could get ahold of it. There’s a bunch of tools online for this—just Google ‘em—or you can straight pull your drive out, load it onto a rocket, and fire it into the sun. If you don’t have access to a Crushinator, that is.

Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.

• What You Think You Know About e-Waste is Wrong*
• In Deeper Chip Than Ever: A Phone Is a Terrible Thing to E-Waste