01 Feb Cut Global Waste and Empower Nonprofits with Your Tech Donations

Electronic waste is now the world’s fastest growing consumer waste stream.

An estimated 45 million metric tons of electronic scrap was generated globally in 2016 — equal in weight to 1.23 million fully loaded 18-wheel 40-ton trucks. That’s enough discarded computers, mobile phones, televisions, and other gadgets to form a line from New York to Bangkok, and back.

What’s more, computer manufacturing eats up a shocking amount of fossil fuels, minerals, and other finite resources. A United Nations study found that the average desktop computer and monitor consumes 1.8 tons of fossil fuels, chemicals, and water during the production process.

So, what’s a concerned citizen to do? You can consider sending your obsolete gadgets to a certified recycler. Only about 30 percent of e-waste is recycled in the U.S.

While better than filling up landfills with old hardware, recycling has its drawbacks as well. The process to extract usable material releases extremely toxic metals and chemicals into the atmosphere. Very likely, your electronic waste will end up in places like China and India, where laborers often working without the benefit of protective equipment are exposed to these lethal substances.

One of the best things you can do with old electronics is to donate them, ensuring that they get a second, useful life and don’t end up in landfills or getting recycled in unpleasant ways. Refurbishing and reusing electronics will always be more environmentally sound than recycling.

Our emphasis on reducing the world’s waste while also giving nonprofit organizations the tools they need to better accomplish their missions has led us to establish a robust technology donation program at Good360.

We take all donations of tech hardware, including desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, flat screens, servers, and peripherals. Generally, we prefer electronics that are not more than five years old; anything older than that may not be able to be refurbished. If we cannot use your devices, we will make sure that they’re properly recycled through one of our certified e-waste recycling partners.

Why donate tech to Good360? Here are some key advantages:

• Zero liability: We make sure all data on your devices is securely destroyed. If you don’t want to bother wiping out the data before sending your devices to us, we’ll take care of it. Even if you prefer to send us computers without hard drives for security reasons, we can still accept them and refurbish them with new hard drives.
• Convenience: We can often arrange pickup from anywhere in the United States, and will handle the data wiping free of charge.
• Certified recycler: We have partnerships with R2 certified IT asset disposition companies around the country. Developed by Sustainable Electronics Recycling International, R2 certification means the recycling is done in a manner that’s protective of the environment, and the health and safety of workers and the public. Additionally, all data on all devices is secure until destroyed.
• Empowerment: Technology can be extremely expensive and out of reach of many nonprofits who survive on tight budgets. By donating computers and other electronics to our nonprofit network, you are enabling them with technology to fulfill their missions and improve their local communities.
• Sustainability: Charitable giving can be far “greener” than recycling. Part of our mission has always been to encourage companies to be more sustainable in their philanthropic programs. Our tech donation program is an excellent way to support this mission.
• Compliance: When you recycle your electronics, it’s very unlikely that you will have any idea where your devices will end up or how they will be disposed of. We rigorously vet all of our nonprofit partners and track our donations to make sure they are being put to their best use. Upon request, we’ll send you an impact story to let you know how your donation benefited the receiving nonprofit.
• Tax savings: Donating your devices may qualify you for a tax deduction. For many companies, it may make more financial sense than liquidation.

Before sending computer hardware to our nonprofit partners, we make sure to install new hard drives and software licenses, if necessary, and also add Microsoft Office to all desktops and laptops. If a device requires an accessory to operate, we’ll provide those as well.

Nonprofits with hardware needs can browse our current offerings here.

If you’re a company or individual interested in making a donation,