Guest Post: What to do with old electronics

Please join us in welcoming Jennifer Burnham, organizer extraordinaire, to our little family! Jennifer is the owner of Pure & Simple Organizing, a home organizing company based Charlotte. “Our mission is to help families and individuals find calm within their home after clearing out the chaos,” she says. “Mounds of physical stuff weighs very heavy on our hearts and minds. Giving someone the opportunity to increase their quality of life by cleaning up and out is my passion!”

Jennifer says that “being organized” is a way of life, and it can drastically improve anyone’s quality of life. As part of the WOWGoodwill community, Jennifer will share tips on how to de-clutter your space and how to organize your home and your life. Questions for Jennifer? Leave a comment below! And now, without further ado….

Technology changes so quickly these days, and as a result we acquire new editions quicker than we dispose of the old ones. When you buy a new phone, computer, printer, or Blu-ray player, what do you do with the older versions? My guess is that you store them in the attic or garage. If you are unsure of what to do with them (trash it, donate it, keep it), then I highly recommend donating your unused and broken electronics to Goodwill.

What do they do with your old electronics? I toured the facility to find out!

All electronics are sorted at each Goodwill donation site. Once sorted, they are transported to the Goodwill electronics warehouse (on Freedom Drive). Each electronic is then further sorted into categories: televisions, monitors, printers, cables, cords, etc.

They will try to repair anything that is salvageable and worth selling. If they cannot repair it or sell it at the Computer Works store, then they recycle on your behalf. Your information will be safe as they crush all hard drives before recycling. (I have seen the crusher in action myself!)