DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Kudos to HP for launching a new computer recycling program. Read about it in the SF Chronicle’s article, “Recycling the HP Way.”

For all of you with short attention spans, the deal is basically this: every few years, everyone gets a new computer and discards the old one. Discarding computers is problematic because computers contain lead and other toxic chemicals. I’ll say that a different way because “toxic chemicals” appears in the news so often the phrase has lost its ability to shock.

The problem is that computers contain poison. When you put computers in a landfill, they poison the ground, and before too long your children begin sprouting extra fingers.

HP and a number of other organizations (listed in the Chronicle article) will instead refurbish your discarded machines, or grind them into scrap and reclaim all the toxic ingredients.

HP’s program sounds pricey to me so I’ll make a special mention of the CRC — California’s Computer Recycling Center, the recent recipient of most of my old Macintoshes. The CRC’s mission is similar to HP’s, but the CRC charges less (only $1 per CPU, and then only if it’s a very old machine).

Update — the CRC raised its prices today! The fee for old CPUs is now $2, and the fee for monitors is $10 (up from $6).