Your old electronics could help with Alzheimer’s therapy

November 20, 2009 · Posted in Environment, G.I.Y. · 1 Comment 

Even though I’m a total gadget nerd, I tend to be a bit behind the times in what I actually own because I try to hang onto stuff until it runs down. I once had a cell phone that only worked when there was a great deal of pressure being put on it from both the front and the back. For a little while, I’d just hold it really tight while making phone calls. Then I had it held together with rubber bands.

This clock probably wont help folks with Alzheimers -- but your old iPods can.

Then I was told it looked really sketchy, like maybe it wasn’t a phone, but was some kind of explosive that I had very lazily attempted to disguise as a phone. And then I thought about how weird it was that when I was a kid, my mom actually had a novelty clock that was made to look like dynamite (see photo). How far we’ve come!

Hey, that was a fun little trip we just took, wasn’t it? Point is, I finally had to get rid of the thing, and I’ll bet you’ve got stuff to get rid of, too. If you’ve got old electronics — or plain old e-waste — in Boulder, here are some ideas for getting rid of your gadgets — which we hope you use, for the most part, until they totally die on you.

There’s a terrific outfit looking for old working iPods right now. They load them and use them for therapies that are proving to be extremely effective with Alzheimer’s patients, stroke survivors and more. All you have to do is mail in your device. See bethabe.org/WellTuned286.html for more information.

Best Buy, with local branches in Boulder, Broomfield and Longmont, accepts most items including old cell phones and digital cameras for free (up to two items per household, per day.) They charge $10 for some items including small television sets and laptop computers, but give consumers a $10 gift card in exchange.

Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (ChaRM) will take old devices, and refurbish what they can, or have the gadgets dismantled and safely recycled.

ChaRM, by the junction of the Goose Creek Path and the Boulder Creek Path, charges a $3 fee for every vehicle coming to recycle.

They will take your old cell phones for no charge; other items have various (very nominal) fees attached. A digital camera or an iPod each cost $2, for instance. For more information, go to ecocycle.org/charm.

via the Camera.

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