Old Electronics and the Electronic Burial Ground

We are computer users.  Ed first started working with mainframe computers in the late 1960's.  I bought my first home computer, a Kaypro, 26 pounds and a 6 inch screen, as I recall, in 1983.  I had a hand-held computer from Radio Shack (a TR-30, or something like that) a few years later.  And several more Kaypros.  And then Microsofts.  And Mac's.  And Palm Pilots.  And now we have Ipads.  We have gone through many computers.  And because Ed knows how to put various computer parts together, people give us their old computers when they move up or shift to Mac's.  And every computer has its own printer and although the printer usually collapses long before the computer does, sometimes you have just replaced the printer when the machine collapses and then the new computer doesn't work with that printer.  And the monitors, too. Many, many of them.

And because we had two houses, each of the houses had its own set of current and former computers and monitors and printers and the thousands of cords that keep them attached.  And it was getting to be close to an entire room devoted to computers and their peripherals. In the olden days, you could occasionally give them away to someone who didn't have a computer.  But not really any more.  Everyone has one and your old one is not the new one they were hoping for.

But there comes a time when all this gathering of computers must come to a stop and the sheep and the goats need to be separated and it turns out that almost all of them are goats either because they don't actually work or they do work but they are so out of date that nothing works with them.  And then a decision is made to get rid of the goats.  All of them. Dozens of them.  And then you begin to think about how to make that happen, how to make them Go Away.

We got to that point this week.  A car full of electronics with nowhere exactly to go.  But what we found is that the Goodwill in Bellingham will quickly and competently sort what you have and put them into various places, some of which involve resale and some of which involve other kinds of recycling and none of which involves landfills and all at no cost to you.  It is a state-run program and you go around the back of the Goodwill store at Sunset Plaza in Bellingham and nice people help you unload them or unload them for you.  You don't have to call ahead: you just have to come during store hours. They offer you a receipt.  And then you are on your way with an empty car and, at home, a newly emptied closet or room ready to take in more stuff.

Thank you, Goodwill!  Thank you State of Washington!  You have made my life much better today.  Maybe they can help you readers out there, too.