Got Back From a Recycling Event (ATTN: NorthWest MLAers)

[funkytoad]

Well, I was walking down the street this morning when I saw it. A simple newspaper article on the front page of the Daily Olympian. I picked it up and saw a photo of hundreds of computers piled up in the parking lot of Ingersoll Stadium at Olympia High School. One computer stuck out at me, a lone Mac IIsi sitting atop a stack of PCs and monitors. So naturally I grabbed a dead monitor and a couple of scanners jumped into the car, and did what any sane MLAer would do, Performed a rescue mission. When I pulled up, this is what I saw: http://tubeurl.com/recycling/'>http://tubeurl.com/recycling/ (there are few good photos to look at there). I quickly scouted out a Revision B iMac G3 and placed it my trunk before the staff saw. I walked a ways into the pile to set my stuff down, I found the IIsi from the front page of the paper and put that in my trunk. At that moment another man was arguing about the fate of a G4 Tower (pictured) they assured him it would be sold not for scrap. They had started sorting what they were keeping and what they would be scrapping. Now the woman in charge of the operation was well aware of what I was attempting to do. I continued to wander through the stacks as I scouted out an Apple IIe and a Revision A iMac G3. I talked the woman into letting me take these, but she was very specific that nothing else was to be taken. I saw other macs being loaded onto trucks and asked of there fate, she informed me that they will be stored in the Tacoma warehouse until cataloged, and sold, after which they will be recycled if not claimed. It was annoying that she wouldn't let me take them there. Anyway, I call upon the MLAers of the NorthWest to help save these macs from sure doom. The ones from this event were picked up by MIC Total Recycle. They will be going to the warehouse at 3627 S. 54th St. Tacoma, Washington 98049. They also have a location up in Kent at: 520 Bridges Ave S. Kent, Washington 98032. There is yet another office in Forest Grove, Oregon. 1280 Fern Hill Road Forest Grove, Oregon 97116. Thanks for reading all that.

Photos of the event can be found here:

http://tubeurl.com/recycling/ Maybe you can scout out a few machines?

Photos of my new computers:

http://tubeurl.com/saved (Photos of all of them are in the photo stream)

So bottom line, I saved:

iMac G3 Rev. A (Bondi Blue) MacOS 8.6

iMac G3 Rev. B (Graphite) OSX 10.3

Macintosh IIsi

Apple IIe

Apple Color Monitor IIe

 

[Patrickool93]

Ooh, the IIsi looks very clean and unyellowed!

 

[funkytoad]

Ooh, the IIsi looks very clean and unyellowed!

Yeah, it was a little dusty but pretty much looked new.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

So... That Forest Grove address. Is that an office, or one of their "stores"?

 

[funkytoad]

So... That Forest Grove address. Is that an office, or one of their "stores"?

I am not sure, the woman just refered to them as "locations" there might be more info about that on the website. I didn't explore to much. The lady actually offered me a job up in Tacoma.

 

[Unknown_K]

Looks like junk mostly (gutted ATX cases, monitors, printers). Outside of the G4 you mentioned I seen something that might be a large laser printer seen sideways or a server. I did notice one machine with a 5.25" floppy drive I would have snagged.

Did all of your machines work?

 

[funkytoad]

Looks like junk mostly (gutted ATX cases, monitors, printers). Outside of the G4 you mentioned I seen something that might be a large laser printer seen sideways or a server. I did notice one machine with a 5.25" floppy drive I would have snagged.
Did all of your machines work?

Very few things were actaully gutted, she seemed pretty serious about keeping the PCs more so then the macs. I don't know anything about the Apple IIe, it beeps and lights up, but I have no cables for it or anything. The G3's both work great. The Rev. A's Screen's colors are a little bit off, but other than that it is great. As for the Mac IIsi, It makes a start-up tone, lights up, and the hard drive and fan spins, but I am yet to hook it up to a monitor. I am still trying to find a Mac Monitor. Does anybody know where I can get one?

 

[Unknown_K]

I think there is a larger market for older PCs then there is in old Macs. I know plenty of people who buy them just for the case and drives to refurb and sell them (using the MB if its usefull enough or just stuffing something newer into it).

 

[Bunsen]

Good work there soldier!

Spotting a Mac in a blurry newspaper photograph, the highly trained 68kMLA Special Operations Executive Blunt Force Trauma Team swings into action. After nightmarish hand-to-hand combat against a determined foe, several wounded Macs are saved from certain doom.

Our only regret is the ones we had to leave behind. But like Chuck Norris, we'll be coming back for ya, all of ya, and one day, you'll be coming home.

"O-oh say can you seeeeeee ...."

 

[MacMan]

That's a good bit of liberation. Those pictures of the event that you provided are very good, though it seems that it was mostly dull PC stuff that was sitting around. It was obviously worth perusing though as you scored some excellent machines there!

 

[TheNixer]

Hey, those are some great pics and congrats on the new Nikon! I would have done all I could to land that G4 tower in my trunk. Nice Apple II as well!

 

[Temetka]

Looking at the pics you provided I couldn't help but hum an angelic "haaaa" type sound. You know where the light comes out of the sky and shines down on a particular item all the while you have a chorus of angels in the background. Yeah, like that.

I'd so be there.

BTW - IMO if it's on a public street, it's trash and available to the public. If it's on private property it is not available. I'd would have put more of a fight to grab some more Macs but whateva.

 

[funkytoad]

Looking at the pics you provided I couldn't help but hum an angelic "haaaa" type sound. You know where the light comes out of the sky and shines down on a particular item all the while you have a chorus of angels in the background. Yeah, like that...
...BTW - IMO if it's on a public street, it's trash and available to the public. If it's on private property it is not available.

Tha'ts pretty much what I was picturing. And it was in a stadium parking lot on School District property. They had hired people to make sure others didn't take stuff.

 

[II2II]

At least they were being decent about it and let you snag a couple of machines.

It would be kinda neat if they organized these things as old computer "swaps". People drop stuff off, anyone can walk off with anything they want. That way they would be closer to what they portray themselves as (a public service) rather than what they really are (freeloading businesses).

 

[Unknown_K]

They provide a free service, monitors cost money to dispove of in many places, and you see tons of CRTs there.

 

[II2II]

Monitors cost money to dispose of because companies can get away with charging it. Well, sorta since a lot end up in landfill. I'm willing to bet that monitors and TVs are among the easiest electronics devices to recycle and they have a fair bit of metal in them.

 

[LCGuy]

Actually, IIRC, they're quite hard to recycle, because of the CRTs, and all the nasty stuff in them.

 

[WorkgroupServer]

The only real nasty stuff in CRTs is lead and PCBs.....the other stuff is just your basic materials.... plastic, steel, copper wires, and glass...

In California it is free to drop off CRT monitors because those companies that accept them are paid by the state. They collect approx $3-6 on each monitor they receive because the state gets the money from people who buy new machines (CA recycling tax)

I've noticed many many E-waste companies have sprang up around here this past year.....

The ones I hate are the ones you can tell are out to make money. I've seen perfecetly good stereo equipment and HP laser printers that were manufactured after 2003 sitting in their scrap bins. They go so far as to cut off the cables off the backs of monitors so they can recycle the copper wire. This annoys me because they are potentially destroying an item that possibly still had potential use so they can make less than $1. Instead of being so concerned about money, State certified electronics companies should focus on re-using BEFORE recycling@

 

[Unknown_K]

I think it is the responsability of the owners to offer working equipment for free/sale before it goes to a recycler. When you are dealing with huge volumes it is probably not worth the effort to try and resell that stuff because you need extra space, techs, sales, etc.