Nowadays, the world of electronics is a rapidly evolving one with new products arriving thick and fast. As soon as a new product comes, older ones are often labelled as ‘outdated,’ even if they are still functional. This consumer behaviour is true for mobile phones, computers, cameras, printers, and many other types of gadgets. While there is nothing wrong in craving for the latest technological innovations, responsible and safe disposal of old computers and other electronic equipment are extremely important.
Probable Outcomes of Improper Disposal
When electronic equipment is not disposed in the right manner, it can seriously impact the environment as well as your business or personal safety. For instance, if a computer is just tossed in the trash, it can very easily fall in wrong hands and expose your sensitive personal or business information. Even worse, in the landfills, rare earth elements released from an old computer can damage the environment as well as our health.
A Step-By-Step Guide
If you are ready to discard your old laptop or desktop computer, follow this step-by-step guide to protect the environment as well as your information. If the outdated computer was used for your business, this becomes even more important because it may contain sensitive information belonging to your clients, employees, suppliers, and other associates.
- First of all, erase all information stored in the computer including customer information, important files, private data, etc. Before deleting these data, you may also want to save them in your external hard drive or USB drive.
- Often times, we feel that it is sufficient to delete data off the computer. However, all these deleted data still remain stored in the internal hard drives. This is why it is extremely important to delete data from the internal hard drive. You can do this by destroying the drive physically or using software to wipe the hard drive. A factory reset can also be performed for this purpose.
- Don’t forget to clear all your browsing history and saved passwords from the browsers.
- Finally, the most important task is to recycle your computer in the right manner. The United States Environmental Protection Agency mentions that the energy saved by recycling one million computers is equivalent to the annual power consumption by approximately 3,500 homes.
Importance of Shredders
When it comes to recycling a computer and its components, shredders play a critical part. The process involves running the components through these machines to cut them into tiny pieces. Shredding is extremely effective for hard drives as the stored data is rendered useless as it is cut into small pieces. As different components of a computer are made of wide variety materials, you should use shredders that can effectively shred all of them to the right size. Some shredders are also capable of compressing the shredded material so that it can be disposed easily.
If you are looking to dispose of your computer or any other IT asset, please get in touch with our experts at Mastershred. We have an exquisite collection of high-quality shredders for all your needs.