Out with the old, in with the new. This mantra especially applies to technology today. Innovations here and there change rapidly and a lot of old stuff are being disposed and forgotten.
You buy one laptop model and use it for a few years (hopefully), and then you find yourself upgrading to another one. So what happens to the old one?
Before finally throwing your old laptop away, consider recycling it. Yes, you read that right. You can recycle an old laptop too.
This article will tell you some steps you can perform so that you don’t immediately put your pre-loved computer to waste.
Cleaning Your Hard Drive
But wait! Before you dissect and recycle your laptop, be sure to wipe out your hard drive. This helps maintain privacy and security.
You would never want to deal with someone else stealing your private information or even your photos and videos. Identity theft is a huge issue today, so save yourself the hassle by making sure your files are completely deleted.
FYI, when your files are in the trash bin, that doesn’t mean they are completely deleted. If you don’t know how to do this, you can go to your manufacturer’s service centers and have them wipe out your drive for you.
Putting Your Hardware to Good Use
Even when your laptop is already too obsolete in terms of systems and processor, you can still make use of its hardware. Creativity is the key here. Think of as much ways as you can to reuse the parts and convert them into something that’s also useful.
You can put out the parts and put together a home file server, for instance. A file server doesn’t have to have high-end parts anyway– only basic and functional parts. You can use this as storage for numerous files and data.
If only selected parts of the laptop remain working, you can find each one its own purpose and do conversion. For instance, the internal hard drive can be converted to an external one. You can seek help from a tech expert or find a tutorial to do this.
Put out the most random parts too and practice your DIY skills. Perhaps you can reuse the cooling fans, the circuit boards, even the monitor frames as art pieces. After all, junk art is a thing nowadays.
Donating Instead of Throwing
If your laptop is still functional, why not share it to an institution that needs it? There are tons of organizations and schools out there that have no budget for computers.
Perhaps they can just have your laptop refurbished a little so they can use it. Letting somebody else benefit from it is still better than just throwing it.
You should seriously consider recycling your laptop, not only to get your money’s worth, but to help the environment too. There have been reports that found too much electronic waste in garbage disposals. This is really hazardous and this can be detrimental to us in the future.