It's always exciting to discover treasure in a pile of items that were headed for the trash. One Indian gamer was lucky enough to salvage a fully functional 25-year-old PC and a CRT monitor, and they had big plans for the find.
What's happening?
The original poster shared photos of their find on the r/IndianGaming Reddit forum. "Salvaged this old fully functional PC from 2000 with a CRT monitor," they said, adding that they hoped to reduce e-waste by using it.
The photos show an LG monitor booted up with a classic desktop background, along with a PC tower with Intel stickers that will bring back memories for any technophile old enough to remember Windows 2000.
"The plan is to build a sleeper using current gen (or currently relevant) parts that are sourced pre-owned or refurbished with the objective of reducing e-waste," the original poster said. "Post which, this PC will function as a machine for retro gaming."
Why is reducing e-waste important?
E-waste, or electronic waste, is a particularly troubling category of garbage. It doesn't just take up space in landfills; because of the materials it's made from, it presents unique challenges.
The plastic components are bad enough, breaking down into microplastics and releasing the polluting gas methane into the atmosphere. But electronics also contain a range of other chemicals that can escape into the soil and contaminate groundwater.
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On the flip side, electronics are made with valuable components such as rare metals. If they're correctly recycled, they reduce the need for mining to manufacture electronics in the future; if we throw them away, then more of the planet has to be torn up to supply new devices.
Finally, as the original poster demonstrated, many systems are thrown away while they're still working.
How are companies involved in the e-waste problem?
Large corporations tend to be major contributors to e-waste. They need large numbers of computers and other electronic devices, and to stay up-to-date, they replace them more frequently than a private individual typically does. While some recycle them responsibly or donate them to worthy causes, others simply throw them away.
This has led to many scenarios in which savvy employees salvaged the discarded machines for themselves. However, in too many cases, the computers simply went in the trash.
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Giving me money back 💰 What can I do about e-waste?
Besides pushing for responsible electronics disposal at your workplace, you can take advantage of recycling programs for your own used items — not only to ensure they're reused but also to get cash or other perks in exchange. Trashie's Tech Take Back Box is one example. You can also sell your items secondhand — and, when you're ready for a new device, buy it secondhand or refurbished to lower the demand for new items and save money.
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