The Pacific Northwest is known for its lush forests, magnificent water features, captivating hiking trails and the all-around beauty of the local environment. Year after year we endure the onslaught of rain, waiting patiently for sunlight to break through the clouds, granting us permission to enjoy the great outdoors that the PNW is known for. 

At one time or another we have all enjoyed the great outdoors. As often as we stop to marvel at and appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds us, do we equally stop and consider the impact our ever-changing digital world has on the environment we know and love? Our culture of “upgradia” (the digital culture of constant upgrades) and acceptance of planned obsolescence poses a disastrous environmental threat in the form of e-waste. 

Electronic waste creates a unique problem for the 21st century as people often upgrade and irresponsibly dispose of “out-of-date” items of technology. In 2014, the United States generated over 11.4 million tons of e-waste, often filling landfills with hazardous materials and threatening human and environmental health. The cornerstone of our mission at Free Geek is to preserve and protect our environment-- we’re committed to keeping Oregon Green! We aid in this safekeeping by recycling incoming electronic waste and refurbishing what’s operable for reuse as new items of technology.

In the 19 years since Free Geek was founded, we have grown to play a significant role in the reduction of electronic waste in the Metro region. Our organization is responsible for a large portion of the area’s total amount of recycled, refurbished, and reused electronic waste.  Last year we collected 1,345,192 pounds of e-waste, which was processed, resold or recycled according to the highest environmental, safety and security standards; 924,718 pounds were sustainably recycled, and 420,474 pounds (or 31.2%) were reused and restored into new items of technology. Almost 30% of the e-waste that goes through the Oregon E-Cycles program is processed by Free Geek!

We take our commitment to reuse seriously, and we continue to invest in growing our Reuse program because we know first hand the significance of getting working items back into circulation. We donate refurbished computers and technology directly back into the community; this year, we were able to give away six laptop computers for every ten sold in the Free Geek Store. Refurbishing a computer and putting it back into the community, thereby reducing the demand for new products, has a much larger impact on materials management than simply dismantling the item for metal recovery and recycling.

Whether it’s a corporation making a tax-deductible donation of used desktop monitors, or an individual recycling an out-of-date cell phone, Free Geek turns nearly every type of electronic equipment, in any condition, into an opportunity. Our commitment to you and to our environment revolves around careful resource management anpreservation, , while simultaneously championing the sustainable, responsible reuse of technology.