TOO+MANY+COMPUTERS

For this action plan, I once again volunteered at Kramden, a local nonprofit, in Durham. Kramden, on the Durham side of RTP, specializes in reducing electronic waste by recycling and reusing parts from old computers and even refurbishing old computer to be given out to local children who do not have access to computers. After my first visit earlier in the year, I was totally hooked on the idea of repairing computers, as not only is it fun, but I'm also helping out the environment AND the local community. This time at Kramden, they had just received a large shipment of old laptops and computers from a local business. There were so many laptops that they piled up across two whole desks (pictured left). This just put into perspective how much electronic waste we have, especially in our local area. This time I worked at the triage section at Kramden where we open the latest shipments of computers and check them for missing parts and doing basic maintenance on them, checking whether they are functional. To do this I first opened the case on the computer, and then inside the computer, I checked whether there were any damaged or missing parts. After replacing any missing parts, I ran the computer through a functionality test, which meant I had to power on the computer and test the settings, making sure that it had all the system requirements set. After that, I ran a memory and storage test which made sure the computer was in functional order. Once the computer was up and running and passed all the tests, I had to fill out a form certifying that the computer was inspected and ready to move on to the rest of the process. My time at Kramden really enabled me to learn about the ecological waste that is present in our community. I myself was able to refurbish roughly 10 computers in the 4 hours I spent there. This shows that if we all are smart about how we use our ecological waste (such as donating it to places like Kramden), we can not only reduce the environmental impact that this old technology has, but also make it possible to help those in need.