Technology Recycling

The problem of "e-waste" is an underreported side-effect of the technological revolution. As much as we all love our electronic gizmos, they often contain large amounts of heavy metals and other toxic materials that can't be simply tossed into a landfill.

Reuse and recycling is the most practical solution. Often the need, whether real or imagined, of businesses and government entities to have the most up-to-date technology leads them to jettison perfectly serviceable computers, networking equipment, and other electronic instruments.

Because most consumers are unaware of this resource, or have been brainwashed into demanding new equipment, there are mountains of second-tier electronics in working condition available for pennies on the dollar. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon (well, actually I sought them out pretty actively) a recycling company in the Huntsville, AL area.

Huntsville was a sleepy little burg until the federal government started pouring money into the missile industry after World War II. One of the primary beneficiaries of this largess was the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal. The arsenal and its associated defense contractors produce an atypically large volume of electronic "scrap" every year.

Enter The Technology Recycling Center (9540-B Madison Blvd, Madison, AL 35785. Tel 256-464-7985) Proprietor Tom Stephens disposes of tons of the best tax-funded cast-off at a live auction the third Saturday of each month. While there might not be enough bargains to warrant travelling long distances to this little gold-mine, there are almost certainly similar resources in your area.

Pentium II and Pentium III computers, are currently very availble, being not quite up to the task of running Microsoft's latest (XP) bloatware. But they are more than adequate for Windows 9x or screamingly fast for *NIX (See: Linux Ecology How-to)