SEATTLE - If Santa left you a new computer or laptop under the tree, you may be looking for a good way to get rid of your old one. Fortunately, the state's largest non-profit computer refurbishing center, InterConnection, is based in Seattle. Depending on what you are getting rid of, InterConnection can either recycle or refurbish your computer. Refurbishing, they point out, is actually the greenest way to go.
InterConnection takes unwanted computers and turns them into something useful, which is particularly fortunate for Washingtonians not only because computers contain hazardous materials, but also because it is illegal for people in our state to put old computers in the trash.
"You can't throw them out, you can't take them to the dump. You can't just toss them in your garbage bin," explains Charles Brennick, the director and founder of InterConnection. But once they arrive at Interconnection, they can either be recycled or rebuilt. Says Brennick, "Here we refurbish any computer that's basically a Pentium 4 or above, so essentially any computer that's been made in the last 6 or 7 years we're able to refurbish and give a second life."
For every computer that gets that second life, Interconnection is actually helping several human lives as well. Volunteers participate in a hardware training program that teaches people who are low income or unemployed how to fix and refurbish the computers. When they complete their training, they get their own computer for free.
However, most of the refurbished computers, thousands each year, end up being sent abroad. The company works with the Peace Corps, World Vision, and other nonprofits to ship their free, refurbished computers to schools in developing countries.
In the meantime, local donors are assured that security comes first. That means the computer hard drives are immediately wiped clean.
"Security is extremely important when it comes to computer donations or computer recycling, because everyone is concerned about their data. So the first thing we do is wipe the hard drive," said Brennick.
Most are put into a special machine that does the job, but people can also pay a nominal fee to have the hard drive physically destroyed in a "hard drive crusher".
However, the real mission at InterConnection is not to smash, but to save. They are simply hoping that this holiday season people lucky enough to get the latest laptops will remember that their hardware burden can easily be turned into a blessing for someone else half a world away.
For those extra worried about wiping the hard drive clean before donating, there are some on line programs like dban.org that has free software for the job. But again, InterConnection guarantees they will do it there. InterConnection also has a new program that will pay for the shipping if you want to mail them a laptop. Their Web site is www.interconnection.org.
To add a comment, please register or login.