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Get Rid of Techno Junk

Adapted from GreenDisk website

For thirty dollars you can get rid of up to 70 pounds of digital waste safely. Seattle-based GreenDisk (www.greendisk.com) will send you a special cardboard box, called the Technotrash Can, that you fill with old cell phones, laptops, CDs and much more. When the box is full, you go to Greendisk's website and schedule a pick-up from the U.S. Postal Service.

GreenDisk began on April 22, 1993 (Earth Day!). Headquartered in Sammamish, Washington, the company was founded by high tech industry veterans who had a particular passion for the environment. The company provides secured, audited disposal of intellectual property stored on electronic media and other technotrash. The resulting materials are then used to manufacture the GreenDisk branded line of office supplies. Through a set of strategic alliances, GreenDisk works with both for-profit and non-profit companies to create a national network of service providers. Rather than build new manufacturing facilities and recycling centers, GreenDisk partners with these non-profit agencies. This creates jobs for workers with disabilities while creating an innovative set of recycling services along with a new line of recycled products.

Initially, the company focused on the need among software publishers for a secure system of disposal of their unsold packages of obsolete software. Their primary concern was for the destruction of the intellectual property. GreenDisk's concern was for accomplishing this important task in an environmentally responsible manner without compromising security. GreenDisk provides a solution to this problem by offering alternatives that create an audit trail to assure that all intellectual property is destroyed and the materials recycled. In response to demand GreenDisk began to offer its secure disposal services to a wider range of clients. The company now serves publishers, businesses, government agencies and individuals who have similar concerns about their data and their environment. The spectrum of materials recycled has also grown to include everything from a diskette to the whole PC.

For more local information on getting rid of techno junk from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, including list of recyclers by major cities, see www.moea.state.mn.us/plugin/recyclers-household.cfm.

PDF format of this article.