When I was at LinuxFest the other weekend (Sept 30), I got the chance to find out about and talk to some of the people from Free Geek Columbus. They are an non-profit organization who provide computer training as well as hardware to people who are not able to afford it. Also one of their biggest projects is accepting donations of old hardware and either refurbishing or recycling it.

I am very excited to find an organization like this because I have been accumulating old hardware for some time now and I have been looking for a good place to donate it. I always tell my friends and family to not throw out the old computer, because it still has some life in it. Besides after reading some of the facts on their website a computer and/or a CRT monitor can be quite harmful to the environment.

From reading through the information provided on their site I would recommend that everyone look into recycling over trashing. They provide general information about what types of places take old computer materials and where. The information on their site is based mostly in the Columbus area but I image it wouldn’t be too hard to find a local recycling plant no matter where you dwell.

The organization in Columbus is modeled after the original Free Geek out of Portland, OR. Other useful information on donating and recycling is available on their site.
http://www.freegeek.org

The main website of Free Geek Columbus is as follows.
http://www.freegeekcolumbus.org