Motherboard! How Frikkin' Hard Can This Be?!!!

Over the years I have collected old computers and electronics in the basement. I'm not a pack rat by any means. I didn't keep it for the sake of keeping it; I always intended to fix or reuse the items. It's just that I really have a hard time throwing things away that I think can be used again. But after so many years it has become obvious that there isn't anything to do with them.

That's when I heard about an electronics recycling drive. The county had held a collection but it apparently was only for a certain period. When I called the sanitation department, the woman I spoke with gave me a 1-800 number to call. So I went home and started looking on the internet for opportunities to recycle in the area.

I gave this one company a call and found out the they charged $10 an item to recycle. $10 to recycle a VCR that cost me $30! It would cost me $120 to recycle everything that I wanted to! What's wrong with the world? When I asked the guy why so much he said there were costs involved. I told him that for that much I was inclined to just put it in the landfill like everyone else. He "reminded" me that they were considered hazardous waste. I reminded him that $120 was a lot of money.

So then I find on the internet that Staples accepts electronics for recycling. Cool! I drive all the stuff up there only to find out that they too charge $10 per item. That was conveniently left off of the website.

Reluctantly, my conscience convinces me to hold onto this stuff for a little while longer until I can find someone collecting the stuff for free again. I call the county landfill to find out when and where and they tell me that there is a permanent collection site at the landfill. That's nowhere on the website and the first woman I spoke to at the beginning of this whole mess apparently didn't know about it either.

I ended up taking the stuff down there. At the gate, I asked the woman who signed me out if I could collect from the elderly in my neighborhood, who don't have the means to get down to the landfill. She said that I would have to pay to bring that stuff down for recycling "because it isn't from your own house." I told her that was absurd and ridiculous. I mean, wouldn't the Sanitation Department love to get a little help? Aren't they making some money on the recycling? The more the better? The less in the landfill?

What the hell is going on?!!!

Now I only tell you all of this to illustrate how hard it was to dispose of this stuff properly. It took a lot of time and almost took a lot of money. Recycling should be easy. Knowing that it's the right thing to do often isn't enough (a typical computer can have up to 8 lbs of lead in it.) There's a point when it just doesn't make sense anymore.

So if you've got computers, televisions, electronics of any kind check for an opportunity to re-use or recycle in your area. And if you can't find any I'll take it to the landfill for you.