This month the Free Geek Community Technology Center became the first Oregon nonprofit recognized as a Basel Action Network e-Stewards Recycler, the gold standard for ethical practices in electronics recycling.

BAN is an international nonprofit organization that advocates for environmental justice and responsibility in the handling of electronic waste. “It is an expensive and complex process to recycle electronics so the poisonous byproducts do not hurt people or the planet,” said Jim Pucket, BAN’s Executive Director. “We congratulate Free Geek on passing our rigorous review.” » Continue reading “Free Geek Designated “e-Stewards Recycler””

Pen the Next Free Geek Slogan and win $200!

We’ve tried on our share of slogans over the years. The closest thing we have to an official slogan right now is “Helping the Needy Get Nerdy Since the Begninning of the Third Millenium.” It started out as a quote from an article about us, and it kinda just stuck.

A lot of folks love it. But a lot don’t. Most of these folks seem to stick on the word “needy,” since we help everyone get geeky. It’s true! Free Geek represents a lot of things to a lot of different people. Which is what makes it so dern hard to sum it all up in a few words.

That’s where you come in! » Continue reading “Geek Sloganoff!”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

City Computers will go to Community Members and Students

June 9, 2008

Commissioner Dan Saltzman & Mayor Potter will introduce a resolution to ensure that computer systems which are no longer needed by the City are refurbished for use by community members, next Wednesday, June 11th.

To accomplish this goal the City will partner with the local non-profit Free Geek. Free Geek is a 501(c)(3) not for profit community organization that refurbishes and recycles used computers, offers computer education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.

“Besides getting computers into the hand of people who cannot afford computers,” commented Commissioner Dan Saltzman, “by partnering with Free Geek we will also be assuring that computer parts that cannot be reused will be recycled locally in an environmentally sound manner.”

Free Geek will also develop an outreach plan to get its refurbished computers into the hands of students who do not have access to computers in their home. ”

Getting technology into the hands of Portland kids helps make sure they will succeed at school, and in their future careers,” stated Mayor Tom Potter, “this partnership is a great way to help our City’s children.” Studies have shown that children living in homes with a computer are more likely to graduate from high school than young adults without computer access at home.

“Free Geek is thrilled by the opportunity to provide more computers to our community” commented Jeff Robinson of Free Geek, “we expect that the City computers will bring in potentially newer models that can be reused.”

Contact: Jeff Robinson at press@freegeek.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Free Geek Receives International Award for Promoting FOSS

October 15, 2007

Free Geek has been awarded the international Chris Nichol FOSS Prize for “doing extraordinary work to make FOSS accessible to ordinary computer users.” The award is given annually by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) to acknowledge organizations working with FOSS, Free and Open Source Software that is free to users and has an open source code so any user can view and modify it.

FREE GEEK is a 501(c)(3) not for profit community organization in southeast Portland that recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service. Volunteers at Free Geek earn free computers and local community organizations are granted computers that are loaded with FOSS, thus introducing hundreds of people each year to such software. Free Geek shares the 2007 award with NepalLinux.

Free Geek was one of seven finalists for the award, and the only finalist from the U.S. Other finalists were from Spain, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil and Nepal.

“This is a wonderful honor and opportunity,” Seamus Campbell, chair of the Free Geek board of directors said. “I’m thrilled that our organization has been recognized by the jury. The APC, and the other prize nominees, are exactly the kinds of groups that Free Geek should be connecting with–a global community of like-minded individuals, with shared goals of social, ecological, and technological justice. ”

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) launched this award in memory of Chris Nichol, a tireless activist and supporter of FOSS promotion who passed away in 2005 at age 29. The APC is an international network of civil society organizations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of information and communication technologies, including the Internet. APC is an active participant in high level international information and communicative technologies policy discussions with the United Nations.

Earlier this year, Free Geek was selected a recipient of a Spirit of Portland award by Mayor Tom Potter, and it has been named a “Founder of the New Northwest” by Sustainable Northwest and an E-chievement Award from National Public Radio’s E-Town.

• APC: www.apc.org
• Nepalinux: www.nepalinux.org

Contact:
Alison Briggs
Outreach Committee Member
“ali AT freegeek DOT org”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cleaning up dirty metals and murky laws, Free Geek seeks to learn and share at Washington e-waste meeting.

August 20, 2007

The Oregon legislature will soon begin work on newly adopted e-waste laws that will decide how the state will deal with this growing issue. The Portland non-profit, Free Geek supports regulation of electronic waste disposal, emphasizing reuse and accountability.

Free Geek Volunteer Coordinator, Alison Briggs is traveling to Bellevue to listen in on Washington’s e-waste legislation development scheduled Thursday August 23rd, 2007. This is the 2nd of two phases that will decide how Electronic Product Recycling Program will work.

“What is at stake is our business of helping people,” said volunteer Rev. Phil Sano. “For example, in California they passed laws making it illegal for volunteers to handle monitors. That was done to help guarantee their safety, but what it also means is that similar organizations must use their limited staff to deal with monitors.”

Specifically Free Geek is going up to learn the process and to encourage transparency in recycling. Liane Kocka, Free Geek’s Recycling Coordinator says, “E-waste is our nation’s third largest export. That is astounding. We can’t just export this problem away. People who care about dumping toxic materials want to know that their children won’t be drinking computer-flavored water.”

Also important is prioritizing reuse over recycling. “It is so easy to just look at all the tons of unwanted technology and just see trash,” said Alison Briggs. “We are able to reuse about a third of the computers donated to us. Moreover, for every savvy computer user there is someone else on the other side of the digital divide that knows almost nothing about computers. These people want to learn, but they aren’t going to pay two thousand dollars for a new system. Free Geek as a model has been replicated in many other locations around the world. But it started right here in Portland. I hope the Northwest sees the value in what we have created.”

• August 23, 2007
• 1:30 PM
• WA State Dept. of Ecology Northwest Regional Office 3190 - 160th Ave. SE Bellevue, WA

contact “ali AT freegeek DOT org”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

FREE GEEK supports regulation of electronic waste disposal, emphasizing reuse and accountability

Portland, Ore., March 1, 2007– Free Geek announces its support of draft legislation moving through the Energy and the Environment Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives. That committee will recommend a bill to the full House in mid-March.

Improper disposal of electronic waste–much of which contains hazardous materials like lead–currently causes enormous environmental and public health problems, both locally and worldwide. Third world countries earn money by importing American e-waste, but are generally ill-equipped to dispose of it properly. Typical results (documented extensively by the Basel Action Network) are contaminated drinking water and toxic fumes from burned materials. Here in Oregon, monitors (containing large quantities of lead, and not accepted by curbside garbage haulers) have increasingly been used for firearm target practice, which pollutes our groundwater with lead.

Rep. Jackie Dingfelder (D-HD45) has advocated e-waste regulation for several years, to reduce these problems. Now chairing the Energy and the Environment Committee, and with bipartisan and industry support, she is likely to succeed in passing a law. Oregon will likely join Washington and California by creating a mechanism in which manufacturers and consumers fund a system for proper disposal of e-waste.

Free Geek has a strong and innovative 6-year record of reducing e-waste problems. Free Geek supports the intent to regulate e-waste disposal, and encourages legislators to consider two key points as draft legislation is refined:

1. Prioritize reuse over recycling. Even responsible disposal has environmental and social costs. Older hardware is often reusable, and the techniques developed by Free Geek to maximize the use of older hardware should be incorporated into new public policy. Any fee structure enacted should include incentives for processors to produce working computers, rather than raw materials for recycling.
2. Ensure that end processors are truly responsible. Free Geek seeks out partners who engage in responsible practices, and has found that good intentions are not always fulfilled. Certification of recyclers, and transparency of methodology, are essential in order to ensure that the state’s approved processors do not take hazardous shortcuts in their methodology.

Free Geek is a Portland-based not for profit community organization that recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service. Its volunteers have refurbished over 20,000 working computers and recycled over three million pounds of obsolete technology since 2000. In 2006, Free Geek was recognized with both the Association of Oregon Recyclers’ Recycler of the Year award and the Mayor’s Spirit of Portland award.

Contact information:

December 13, 2006 Mayor Tom Potter presented Free Geek with the Mayor’s Spirit of Portland Award. Reading from a statement prepared by Oso Martin and Pete Forsyth, Mayor Potter praised Free Geek’s service to the community, drawing together volunteers of all stripes to work toward common goals. Director Marie Deatherage accepted the award, emphasizing the importance of community at Free Geek. The ceremony was broadcast by Portland Community Media, and will be re-broadcast twice - check our Media page for details. View the award, alongside the Recycler of the Year Award, at the Reception desk!

December 8, 2006 Free Geek has seen an enormous amount of community response resulting from our recent break-in. We would like to say thank you to all of the generous donors who ran to the aid of the Geek!

• Providence St. Vincent’s gave us 180 awesome computers
• Hardware donations are way up (including laptops and laptop RAM)
• Folks from all around the country have sent in money to help us through, including many small donations, several $100-$200 donations, a $450 donation, a $500 donation, and one $1000 donation! Everything counts, so they’re all rock stars to us!
• In sum, we’ve received about $4,000 in monetary donations since the break-in. This takes us a long way towards our end-of-year fundraising goal of $6,000

Thank you so much to everyone who responded so generously, from the smallest donation up to the largest. You’ve all helped us to keep computers out of landfills and get them into the hands of those who need them.

November 18, 2006 Early on the morning of Saturday, November 18, 2006, much of Free Geek’s most valuable inventory was stolen from its Southeast Portland facility. The value of the stolen hardware has been estimated to be worth approximately $5,300.

Numerous schools and non-profit organizations served by Free Geek’s grants of computer equipment will feel the sting of this loss. Lower Chinook Tribe, National Council of Jewish Women, Veterans for Peace, Bolivian Medical Exchange had all been approved to receive laptops that have now been stolen.

Free Geek’s newly-established Laptop Program, which refurbishes portable computers and provides significant income to fund Free Geek’s other operations, took the greatest hit. Laptops and laptop memory were stolen, along with flat panel LCD monitors and high end Apple equipment. Free Geek’s many volunteers and staff are working hard to get the Laptop program back off the ground.

Free Geek takes great care to ensure that any private data stored on donated computers is securely erased as quickly as possible, and is happy to report that after a review of stolen materials, no hard drives with private information were stolen.

Free Geek’s friends and neighbors have rallied to its support. If you wish to help this unique non-profit recover from this blow to operations and morale, please consider donating money to help reach our goal of $6,000 by the end of the year. Or if you have old computer equipment (especially laptop RAM) to unload, send it our way - the sooner the better! - so we can keep doing what we do best. Finally, any tips on used laptops being sold with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed, or with Free Geek’s white inventory stickers attached, are much appreciated. Call (503)232-9350 with any tips.

For more information about the burglary, see the media coverage.