We’ve all been struck by the dilemma at some point in the past several years. A beautiful piece of technology, which we were so excited about initially, slowly faded, began to malfunction, and finally bit the dust.

Most of our modern electronics are completely non-repairable (or repair is prohibitively expensive—in many cases more than the cost of the item!), and so we dispose of them. But how?

E-waste is becoming a major problem in our technological society. When our electronics wear out, rather than getting them fixed, creatively reusing them, or at the very least recycling them, many people are simply tossing them into the dumpster. According to the EPA, computer monitors (amongst the worst of e-waste) contain an average of four pounds of lead, as well as chromium and mercury. When all of these toxic chemicals are deposited into our landfills, they slowly work their way down to our water table.

The mantra of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle is more important than ever when it comes to e-waste. I’d like to focus on the Reuse aspect. There are several creative options for reusing our dysfunctional or dead e-waste, and there is much more work possible to be done.

A Geeky-Green Kind of Accessory

One creative solution to the e-waste problem is to use portions of it in a totally different way. Acorn Studios, a Canadian-based company, has been doing this for years. After working as a Waste Management Engineer, the founder, Nicola Harper, had seen enough e-waste piling up in the landfill to know that it was time to do something about it. She sees herself as “increasing consumer awareness of recycled content products”.

Acorn Studios makes cuff links from keyboard keys, notebooks bound with 5.25” floppy disks, clocks from old CDs, and earrings from circuitboards, just to name a few. They also have a whole section on their website devoted to DIY recycled crafts, like a car mirror bookshelf, or a tie wallet. And a tip section for ways to green your office or other electronic workspace.

Benevolent Green-Geeks

Another creative solution to reusing e-waste is the Free Geek movement. Free Geek started in Portland, OR and has the mission of “reusing and recycling used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.” They collect e-waste, recycle what cannot be reused, and reuse what can, using their geek skills to turn it into useful products for the community to use.

In just four years, Free Geek has collected e-waste from all over Portland, and recycled 360 tons of it, as well as refurbishing 3,000 computer systems that are now in use all over their community. There are a number of other Free Geek operations throughout the US, including in Arkansas, Chicago, and Tennessee. See Also: wikipedia on Free Geek.

Finding creative solutions to the e-waste problem is an important avenue we must, as a society, decide we are going to take. Reusing our used up electronics in a creative fashion, like Acorn Studio, or for the benefit of the community, like Free Geek, are two innovative answers to the e-waste problem.