Friday, May 9, 2008

Reuse is Better than a Landfill


The reason I was in Toronto recently was to attend the 5th Annual International Computer Refurbisher's Summit. It was an event that was somewhere between a professional meeting and a full-fledged conference with about 250 attendees. The conference was very broad-based covering the economic, environmental, and social benefits of computer re-use and refurbishing.

There were lots of compelling stories told by dedicated and inspired individuals such as Dr. Gillian Marcelle who has found thousands of computers to a vast variety of developing countries many of them in Africa. She can find good homes for Pentium 2 machines even. Or Mark Surman, whose project Techcentre has equally been important for many communities in South America and elsewhere.

Everyone seemed to have a story to tell. There were refurbishing programs involving convicts, housing projects, schools and universities, and at-risk youth. There were small businessmen who saw an opportunity for recycling and refurbishing electronics in communities underserved or without a recycling plan.

But most impressive to me is the Computers for Schools programs in Canada where almost 900,000 computers from governments federal and provincial as well as corporations have been refurbished and placed in schools across the country. I was able to share a table with the folks from Yellow Knife, NW Territories and was very impressed with their passion. One of them challenged me and said "how come this isn't being done in the states, it all should be state owned property. It should belong to the schools" If there was a window of opportunity for that mindset, it has long passed us by.

Back at home, the CREAM project seems modest to some of these fine and altruistic efforts. But concerted efforts to find new homes and capabilities for electronic devices, even minor ones, all add up. And the options and opportunities out there for those who care about common sense economically, socially and environmentally are vast indeed.
posted by well-executed buffet at 8:01 PM
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