February, 2010 Promethean Newsletter

Computer Recycling in 2010

Denver Abernathy

At least twice a month we field a customer question about how to dispose of their old computers, monitors, printers, etc. While our answer has remained pretty much the same over the years (i.e. give them to us and we’ll find a solution), at least once every couple of years we have to find a new recycle center. It’s very difficult for re-manufacturers and recyclers to stay in business if they don’t charge for the collection of at least some items. Most make a living by salvaging the computers and monitors that actually work and re-selling them. In this scenario, collecting the true scrap is a sort of expensive loss leader. Many also operate utilizing private, state and/or federal grants. While funds for e-cycling from environmental and educational foundations and endowments have largely dried up in the recent economic downturn, federal funds for these purposes are starting to pick up some of the slack. In many cases, this means out with e-cycler A and in with e-cycler B.

While Indiana laws regarding the disposal of small numbers of computers each year are fairly lenient, at Promethius we feel strongly that re-use and recycling are the best ways to keep the toxic chemicals, carcinogens and heavy metals contained in computers out of our landfills and water supply. In order to continue offering disposal services to our customers, maintain our commitment to the environment and not get stuck with unexpected recycling fees, what I’ll term the “nice-guy tax,” we have decided to implement a small recycling fee of $10 per system (computer, keyboard, mouse and monitor) and $5 per printer. We are also happy to assist with larger disposal efforts (more than 10 systems) by connecting companies directly with vendors to arrange for on-site collection, hard drive destruction certification, etc.

If you have questions regarding the disposal of your retired computer or other electronic devices, please give us a call at 317-733-2388.

Sneak Peek at Upcoming Class

Tony Valle

On March 4th I’ll be teaching our Anatomy of a Killer Social Networking Plan class here at Promethius. While I hope the name says it all, I thought I’d take the time to give you a brief review of the high-level concepts we will cover, just in case you’re wondering whether or not this class is for you. Here are our main concepts:

What is our main goal in Social Networking? – This will be a brief review of a previous class. Our goal is not to gain the most “Facebook Friends” or the most “Twitter Followers.” We aren’t here to post 200 pictures from our last family vacation. Our goal with social networking is to design and manage what I call our “Online Persona.”
Building Your Foundation – Most of us don’t even know where to start with our social networking activities. We’ll give you some concepts and some concrete ideas to help you understand where and how to begin.
A Day In The Life – What does an average day for a social networker look like? We’ll give you a detailed view of the daily actions of the greatest social networkers. This should give you a good feel for the types of things you should be doing every day to get the most out of your efforts.
Managing Your Time – One of the biggest complaints we hear is that social networking “takes too much time.” This is certainly true if you don’t have a detailed plan and understand the techniques that save you tons of your most valuable resource – your time!
Real-Life Campaign – We’ll finish up by dissecting a real-life social networking campaign for a specific event.

I hope this sheds some light on what we intend to cover in our class. Please feel free to call our office at 317/733-2388 if you have any questions. Click here to register!