Don’t go to the dump just yet! Old PCs can still be useful. Find out five ways you can reuse your old computer and how you can help the planet!
Here are five amazing things you can do with your old computer.
1. Donate!
Charity organizations like Goodwill, Salvation Army, United Way, and Habitat for Humanity accept old computers and electronics for recycling. If your computer or electronic device is still working, give it to a charity or other organization that can use it, rather than throwing it in the trash. You can also donate an old computer or electronic device and get a tax deduction or a receipt from the organization.
2. Recycle it.
If your computer is too old or broken to fix, recycle it. There are special recycling centers that will take computers, with or without hard drives, and recycle them in an environmentally friendly way. If possible, remove any hardware, hard drives, or data before sending a computer to be recycled. Recycling ensures that valuable metals, plastics, and other materials are reused and stay out of landfills.
3. Use it for parts.
If your old computer is still working, but you just don’t have a use for it anymore, you can try to sell it for parts. You can sell it as a whole unit or for parts to a local computer repair tech or to a computer recycling center (if you can find one).
Some parts like hard drives, RAM, and other components can fetch a decent price on the secondary market. Old monitors and cases can be useful for some other projects too. A few screws, a power supply, and some other parts can be useful for future projects.
4. Use it as a media center.
You can always hook up an old computer to your TV and use it as a media center. You can use it to play music and movies from your online collection. If you have an online media account, like Pandora, Spotify, or Pandora, you can hook up your old computer to your TV and use it as a media center for streaming music and entertainment.
You can use it to watch videos and play high-definition videos. If you have an old computer with a Blu-ray drive and enough storage, you can hook up a Blu-ray DVD player and use it as a home theater PC.
5. Use it as a home automation controller.
You can use an old computer as a home automation controller. You can hook up a media center-style PC to the home automation system in the home and use it to control lights, door locks, temperature, and more. You can use it to monitor your home for motion and sound. You can also use it to monitor home security cameras. You can use an old computer as a home automation controller, web server, and web camera.
Conclusion
They are a few of the many ways you can reuse an old computer, and these are the best things you can do with it. Remember to recycle old computers, if possible or appropriate. If you can’t donate or recycle your old computer, you can use it for parts or as a media center PC or home automation controller.
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