Latin America generates 9% of the world’s electronic waste, or e-waste, that is: more than 4 thousand kilotons. This waste of cables, keys and screens ends up in landfills around the world, predominantly in the Asian and African continents, which, obviously, generates serious consequences for the environment.
Despite the magnitude of the problem, little is being done at a general level, and there is little information that helps us know how to dispose of a computer responsibly. Here we leave you the step by step to do it, and some ideas of objects that you can produce using elements from your old computer.
Three ways to recycle your computer responsibly
First make sure that your computer is already completely obsolete, because if it is not, you can donate the refurbished equipment by yourself or by a programmer, who will install the lightweight system known as “Linux”, in order to give new life to the device. This can be useful to many people who do not have the resources to buy new computers, so you will avoid throwing away something that is still useful.
You can also use it only as a storage device, adding a hard drive with enough space so you can save important files, such as your music collection, videos, or your work in formats that are usually very heavy, such as those edited on design and photography platforms. .
But if your computer already fails beyond repair, the easiest way to ensure effective recycling is to take it to a local reseller that has a computer recycling program. He will know how to separate the parts of your computer that can be recycled or reused. There are also apps that can make this task easier for you.
In addition to these three options, you can also disassemble the computer to make useful or beautiful objects like these:
Key pen
Bird swing and feeder
Or you can even reuse your obsolete laptop screen to have an extra screen for your CPU, which is useful for those who need to work on two screens. This video explains in eleven minutes how to know the compatibility between the controller and the LCD screen to put what you perhaps thought was useless to work.
Recycle and reuse a screen
*Images: 1) Stefan Schlautmann – flickr / CC; 3) Flickr lunita lu / CC