While many tech companies are making money off convincing consumers to buy every new generation of an upgrade, that isn't necessary in most cases. In fact, machines that many users would throw in the garbage can still be used for a wide range of high-powered applications.
One tech enthusiast recently showed Reddit what they could do with equipment that others had deemed "e-waste."
What's happening?
The Redditor posted about their setup in the r/Minilab community.
"A lot of the equipment has either been pulled from the e-waste bin at work or purchased for very cheap on eBay," they explained in the caption below a photograph of several desktop computers stacked on top of each other. "All of the optiplexes shown were recovered from the trash as well as the grey switches you see on the right."
You might assume that if an entire desktop computer is being thrown out, it's because it's broken, or maybe it's too old and slow to be of use. But the original poster found plenty of uses for their collection.
"So what am I doing with all of it?" they asked. "The larger optiplex is an OPNSense box. It was a project I've been wanting to tackle for a while and despite some roadbumps we got it done. It works great despite sounding like the PC is gonna take flight on boot. … But now I have a better understanding of networking and VLANs, etc which was the point to begin with. …
"The two that are powered on are both running Ubuntu server, one running all of my docker containers (stuff like glances, uptime kuma, mealie, etc etc..) and I am thinking of turning the other into a media/storage server of some kind. I'm not quite sure what to do with the other two and I have one more not pictured."
Running multiple servers at home takes a lot of computing power — but the original poster got much of it for free.
Why is this example of e-waste recycling important?
This goes to show just how much money businesses and individuals are wasting on a regular basis. Repurposing old devices instead of discarding them could provide an incredible amount of computing power without the need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for it, which would be good for everyone's budgets.
Beyond that, reusing electronics would keep them out of landfills and prevent harmful pollution. At the same time, it means there's less need to mine for rare materials to make new computers, which means less future environmental damage.
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Giving me money back 💰 What can companies do about this?
While too many companies trash their used electronics when it's time for a replacement, some offer them to their employees instead. This can help keep them in use by individuals who will appreciate them. Other good options include donating them to schools and other good causes, selling them, and recycling them.
What can I do to reduce e-waste?
If you have devices that you no longer have a use for, you can resell them to someone else who does. You can also turn them in to a recycling program — ideally one that offers cash or rewards in return. One example is Trashie's Tech Take Back Box.
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