We can't talk about Green IT without recycling. In fact, it’s illegal in many states (including California) to dispose of computer hardware with your regular trash due to environmental concerns.
E-waste recycling has two benefits:
- Recycling keeps toxic chemicals out of the environment. Some IT components, like LCD monitors and older smartphones, contain toxic substances that can seep into groundwater and poison the environment.
Computers also contain a complex mix of materials including gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, lithium, cobalt and other valuable elements which can be reclaimed, reducing the demand for mining.
- Recycling protects your data from theft. You leave digital traces all over your office computers. Not to mention your phone! How about your copier/scanner? Every scan you made is saved on the copier’s hard drive. Nobody wants those bits of data to fall into a cybercriminal's hands.
Proper e-waste recycling includes hard drive destruction, thus destroying any chance of data retrieval. Phew!
What should you recycle then? All of your IT hardware: network gear, servers, desktops, laptops, tablets, hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, MicroSD cards, monitors, network cabling, office phones, headsets, video conferencing equipment, smartphones, etc.
E-waste recycling costs nothing at all. You can arrange for a free e-waste pickup, or turn it over to us on our next customer visit. We take care of destroying old hard drives, USB drives, etc., and protect your data. The rest goes to an e-waste recycler.
Good for the environment, and good Cyber Fu.
For more on the State of eWaste, check out: What Can We Do about the Growing eWaste Problem? Columbia University (8-27-2018)
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