Streamline your gym’s electronic equipment by passing some of it on.
A new year often signals an urge for renewal. Before any more tech toys find their way into your gym, take stock of what you’re not using and purge outdated equipment. Now that so many devices have converged into multi-purpose handhelds, it might be time to get rid of older, bulkier tech equipment and run your business on a single laptop. While you still love your electronics, you no longer need a room full of computer equipment to get through the day.
If your office desktop computer and peripheral devices are obsolete, pack them up and head to an electronics recycling center or a refurbishing depot. You’ll be doing the environment a favor. Those old, heavy televisions and CRT monitors are energy hogs as well as serious pollutants full of toxic substances. Switching from a CRT to LCD monitor can cut about $20 per year from your electric bill. And that old fax machine sitting in the corner? Get rid of it by using software that allows you to send faxes through free services like efax.com and faxzero.com. Fax from your browser; get an assigned fax number for people to send faxes to you, and documents arrive in your e-mail instead of on the office floor. Read on for even more streamlining tips.
READY TO RECYCLE?
For a guilt-free way to clear tech clutter, consider the burgeoning options in electronics recycling. Common equipment accepted for electronics recycling includes:
- Computers: desktops and laptops
- Computer monitors: CRT and LCD
- DVD and CD players, boom boxes
- Fax machines
- Mobile phones, iPhones, iPads
- MP3 players, iPods, PDAs
- Mice, keyboards, drives, USB flash drives
- Printers and scanners
- TVs and VCRs
- Video game consoles
Most towns now have electronics recycling drop-off centers or large-scale community events. Much of our old “junk” winds up being stripped down for proper disposal or reuse, and valuable components such as copper and gold, used to solder parts, are sold to metal dealers. Many recycling firms also create jobs for disabled individuals who can capably disassemble and repair electronics. And none of them add this hazardous waste to landfills.
If you don’t have access to a local recycling center, check ecosquid.com for the best way to recycle computers or sell old cell phones. Also, dell.com partners with Goodwill to make electronics recycling easy, with free drop-off for recycling and reuse. They take computers, laptops and monitors (which are a major environmental hazard), as well as printers, scanners, keyboards, speakers, cords, cables, ink cartridges and software. Check the location nearest you at reconnectpartnership.com/locations.php
RENEW WITH REFURBS
Many non-profit firms benefit by taking your donation and selling used products through outlet stores and eBay. They also provide jobs to people who clean and repair products, so you’re helping your local community, too.
Refurbished electronics find a new home with budget-conscious people and give new life to old hardware components. Even Target stores are now selling pre-owned electronics. It’s a sign of the times how fast people trade-up or discard tech toys. Target partners with the NextWorth.com trade-in program. Through NextWorth, you can exchange your used electronic devices, cameras and DVDs for a Target gift card. They even pay the shipping to mail your old components to NextWorth. NextWorth is a certified green business, putting old technology into new hands. It’s a good way to recover some value from the short-lived excitement of last year’s tech tools.
The Apple Store offers refurbished products in the Special Deals section of their site at store.apple.com. Buying refurbished might fit your budget, especially for younger family members or when a spare iPod is needed for team training.
Get paid to recycle
Although it’s hard to believe your iPhone could be obsolete already, it’s tempting to upgrade to new models with new features. You can get cash for being the early-adopter when you want to trade up. Firms such as Gazelle, NextWorth and YouRenew offer cash for older models of small electronics, especially cell phones and smart phones.
TreeHugger.com reports that the average American keeps a cell phone for only 12 months, even though they can last five or six years. If you can’t resist the lure of the newest models, at least you can cash in on the old one. On most small electronics resale sites, you fill in the details on the model you want to sell and indicate its condition and working functions. Most sites ask sellers a few questions: Is it in good condition? Do all the functions work? Are accessories included? You’ll get the best price if you can send the manual, charger and other parts. If the offer sounds good, you send in the product and receive a check in about two weeks.
REGIFTING
Bridge the generation gap by regifting upward to grandparents, or down to tweens who may be happy to start out with a used computer or MP3 player. If your old equipment is still good, but no longer useful to you, make a few phone calls to relatives or local schools and see if they’d like your old computer, printer, etc. as a donation. In many schools, new equipment doesn’t fit the budget.
Aside from helping the environment and cleaning up your office, remember you’ll also enjoy a nice tax deduction for donations of old equipment. Tax deductions are taken on the basis of fair market value and include shipping costs, if you pay to send the donation to the recipient. If your business is a corporation, check with your tax advisor about depreciation and your tax basis in the equipment.
How many orphaned chargers, cameras, phones, backup drives, obsolete computers and broken printers do you need? Simplify your life at year’s end by clearing out the back office and scaling back on tech clutter. Scheduling an electronics clean-up week can get your whole staff involved.
Recycle shoes
Get your team involved as a collection point in your town for an electronics recycling event. Beyond electronics, you can be a hero in your community if you host a gym shoe recycling event. In fact, you’ll probably be a hero to hundreds of moms, too.
Nike sponsors a “Reuse-A-Shoe” program which turns old sports shoes into new track surfaces, gym floors, playgrounds and tennis courts. If you’re looking for a fun way to create visibility for your team and get a jump on a unique Earth Day project, have your team host a shoe drive. Sign up at nikereuseashoe.com if you live in the U.S. or the Vancouver, Canada, area and can get to a Nike retailer, where you can donate up to 200 pairs of shoes. Even if a community event seems too ambitious, your staff and cheer teams can organize a smaller event to bring up to 10 pairs of old shoes directly to a Nike drop-off location. See their site for locations: nikereuseashoe.com.
By: Helen Gallagher
Comments are closed.