E-Waste

This is a draft of a collaborative document for outlining the sort of electronic donations PS:1 is willing to accept. This document is necessary because people tend to believe that any old electronics could have value to a hackerspace. The reality, though, is that much of this sort of thing simply becomes a burden because it needs to be thrown away. A lot of members have invested significant amounts of work to get our space clean, and limbo is currently nearly full to the brim with valueless e-waste.

Everything in this guide is superseded by a simple request: Please contact us before bringing it in.

Thesis

Pumping Station: One cannot accept unsolicited donations of hardware. Disposing of nonfunctional electronics is difficult and burdensome for a volunteer-run organization. There is little value in the SMT electronics on modern multi-layer PCBs, as re-using them is extraordinarily difficult.

Details

Pumping Station: One may be interested in: functional computers of a modern vintage (less than four years old, please), fully functional accessories like modern LCD monitors, mice and keyboards.

Pre-sorted collections of useful electronics components may also be accepted. If you have a collection of electronic components, it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact our Electronics Area host directly. Contact information can be found at Things like old printers, networking hardware of questionable value (especially any routers or other equipment requiring software licensese that are not included with the donation), or any equipment that is not immediately ready to function will need to be claimed by a member before they're brought to the space. The item is then the member's responsibility to part out, take home or store properly.