Charles Brennick returned from a trip to Costa Rica in 1999 with an idea: connect nonprofit organizations with website designers willing to donate their time to build sites for the organizations.
But after working with several nonprofit groups, he realized they needed more than websites; they needed computers.
“It was kind of volunteer matchmaking when we started, but then we starting shipping small quantities of computers,” Brennick said. “Things just kind of grew from there.”
The Seattle-based organization InterConnection takes used computers and either recycles them or refurbishes them to give to various organizations in the United States and elsewhere. It has shipped more than 25,000 computers to more than 40 countries, and more than 100,000 computers have been recycled since 2003.
Brennick said when he started the organization, it was a part-time position aimed at helping others. But as the need has grown, so has the organization – with 13 full-time employees and scores of volunteers.
The group collects used desktops and laptops from companies that are upgrading or individuals doing the same.
“I think they really like what we’re doing,” Brennick said. “They want to see their computers go to a good cause.”
He said people will give away their old computers with slow processors, but want to find a way to reuse their machines.
“The best-case scenario is that we are able to use 50% of what comes in [to be refurbished and sent to organizations in need],” Brennick said.
The group takes old computers, has them deconstructed and recycled, earning money to send the refurbished ones to those who need them.
“There are a lot of groups that shred the metals, but we think there’s an opportunity to do better with the equipment,” Brennick said.
Recycled computers stay in the United States and data wiping is done by staff on all computers. He said the group has recycled 3.2 million pounds of electronics since 2005.
Source: Waste & Recycling News
By Jeremy Carroll