WE WANT TO START A "FREE GEEK"

[Eowen]

So me and some friends have been discussing technology recycling, computer repair shops, and accessibility in our area.

needless to say we are frankly disgusted. 

 

In the area " 200+ miles in any direction " technology recycling is exclusively for profit, even entities that claim to be non-profit and accept volunteer help, operate exclusively to salvage precious metals, scrap or sell at outrageous prices for outdated equipment.

 

We want to change that.

 

Our main discussion has been the free geek model or at least the spirit of it. 

Taking in donations from the private sector, government entities, and so on.

Sorting, recycling, disposing, repair, training and our main focus. Giving access to students and families free technology that would have otherwise been torn to pieces for a spec of gold....

 

So. We are we asking

A little guidance. 

What should our best route to accomplish this or process to get started. 

We would like to hear from some experienced individuals that are already doing similar activities. 

 

This may sound alittle cocky. But I'd love to shut these other places down from taking and accepting perfectly good items and turning them into grounded up bits of metal and plastic

 

 

Hopefully I'm posting this in the correct area.. ? 

[Eowen]

@LinusTech oh boy I can tag people hello busy person

[tkitch]

I don't think you realize how much it costs to run an endeavour like this.

 

Yes, it's a cool idea, and selfless and could be helpful, but you'd need hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in support to make it even remotely productive.

[tkitch]

to break it down:  

Each person working there would need to be paid 40-60K a year.  If they're employed, you'd need all the other employee expenses on top of that.

The building it's in, etc.  That's easily multiple thousands a month, or more.

Insurance to cover when something goes wrong

Paying to get rid of hardware when it doesn't work, because shit DOES break, and you can't just house an infinite amount of broken hardware.

 

So, can it be done?  Sure.
But, there's a reason things like this don't exist everywhere.  They're *expensive*

[Caroline]

So what the centre I volunteer at does, but first world mode.

 

It's a general recycling centre but there's an appliances + electronics section that's where I am 3 times a week, collectors... collect things and leave them in the open (plastic bottles, cardboard, tyres, etc.), that's then picked up by people who sort them and send them to the different areas, there's electronic garbage that gets grinded or scrapped for the metals but the good stuff that can be repaired, often using parts from other things that's already there, isn't cut down.

 

What's repaired is then sold or donated, but the donation part requires paperwork as the centre is state-funded, so they need to know if the people we're donating stuff to actually needs it (is poor) or just wants it to resell it.

Part of the donation process includes the work, say you get a free stove, you'll need someone that can install it, but if you're dirt poor then you can't afford a pro, well, there's a welder, a gas worker, a plumber and an electrician (me), I also do the painting when restoring appliances or light fittings, we've been getting a ton of linear fluorescent fittings that people throw away, you can't get tubes anymore so I take them apart, repaint if needed and rewire them to take LED retrofit tubes, it's not the ideal thing to do but it gets the job done. Stoves, heaters and anything gas is of course repaired by the gas worker, I can repaint the stuff if they're rusty as hell after the welder patches any holes using scrap metal from the centre.

 

Computers are separate, I get to repair them if possible, otherwise the working parts go in boxes and the dead ones get grinded. What usually works are monitors, keyboards, even some towers that only have a damaged hard drive or dead PSU. I'm allowed to take the PSUs to repair them at home because there's not enough tools or a proper electronics workbench there, same with motors for say fans or oscillating heaters.

 

The building is owned by the state and the collectors get paid for their job, they're also provided a "wagon" and food for their horses, and yes, everything is done by horses like it's 1824, don't worry they're told to take care of the animals by not overloading the wagons, and they're well fed, taken care of by vets and all. Fuel is expensive, roads are unpaved, and not everyone knows how to drive a car, but everyone knows how to ride a horse, so... horses it is.

[Rocketdog2112]

4 hours ago, tkitch said:

I don't think you realize how much it costs to run an endeavour like this.

 

 

And probably some sort of hazardous waste license/permit.

[ToboRobot]

5 hours ago, Eowen said:

So me and some friends have been discussing technology recycling, computer repair shops, and accessibility in our area.

needless to say we are frankly disgusted. 

 

In the area " 200+ miles in any direction " technology recycling is exclusively for profit, even entities that claim to be non-profit and accept volunteer help, operate exclusively to salvage precious metals, scrap or sell at outrageous prices for outdated equipment.

 

We want to change that.

 

Our main discussion has been the free geek model or at least the spirit of it. 

Taking in donations from the private sector, government entities, and so on.

Sorting, recycling, disposing, repair, training and our main focus. Giving access to students and families free technology that would have otherwise been torn to pieces for a spec of gold....

 

So. We are we asking

A little guidance. 

What should our best route to accomplish this or process to get started. 

We would like to hear from some experienced individuals that are already doing similar activities. 

 

This may sound alittle cocky. But I'd love to shut these other places down from taking and accepting perfectly good items and turning them into grounded up bits of metal and plastic

 

 

Hopefully I'm posting this in the correct area.. ? 

Step one is to actually start doing something. 

You want to recycle tech?  You don't need to talk to Linus to start doing so.  You need to source things, fix em and find new homes.

Have you worked in the existing recycling market?  Maybe they do things the way they do (extracting precious metal) for a reason, and you could learn that and other things getting a labour job in a facility doing the work.

Have looked online for people doing recycling the way you want to?

[SansVarnic]

-= Cleaned =-

Topics of discussion are intended to be a discussion of the topic posted. Do not derail topics.

Thank you.

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

On 4/26/2024 at 9:50 PM, Eowen said:

Our main discussion has been the free geek model or at least the spirit of it. 

Taking in donations from the private sector, government entities, and so on.

Sorting, recycling, disposing, repair, training and our main focus. Giving access to students and families free technology that would have otherwise been torn to pieces for a spec of gold....

Best approach is to approach those who already know how its done. So Free Geek. Not LMG, and not Linus. They are media company. So when they are done with their equipment, it goes to those recycling companies. And what you see in the videos about Free Geek is just the surface. So all things considered, you are best to contact FreeGeek about things. Not their model, but about things they need to take into account when doing business.