Vision

What’s the problem?

There is growing awareness that our earth is a limited source of raw materials.  These precious resources are now transformed into manufactured goods which are too easily discarded in the cheapest possible way.  Little or no thought is given to our environment, or the damage we are doing on a daily basis.   

Electronic waste is especially difficult to deal with because of the many different materials used in most products.  There are several kinds of plastics in common use, for instance, and many different metals.  Some of these materials are toxic and a few are known to cause cancer if not properly handled. Once they're in our landfills, they won't go away in our lifetime, our children's lifetime, or even our grand children's lifetime.

The volume of electronic waste is truly staggering.  One source claims that in 2002, more than 3 million tons of electronic waste was generated in the U.S.  A surprising fact is that most electronic waste has a residual value.  There may be more gold in a ton of electronic waste than in a ton of raw ore.  There is usually enough copper, aluminum, and steel to make recovery worthwhile. 

In the U.S., a ‘recycling’ industry has flourished which is notoriously lax in handling dangerous materials.  In August of 2008, the U.S. Government Accounting Office issued a comprehensive report taking the Environmental Protection Agency to task for the ineffective monitoring of the ‘recycling’ industry, and allowing the common practice of shipping electronic waste to third world counties, where there are no effective methods in place to deal with it.

The portions of electronic waste with the least value are the plastic structural parts and electrical insulation.  They take a long time to degrade and are difficult to dispose of safely.  Much of the electronic waste is sent to countries where plastic parts are usually set on fire.  Changing toxic materials from solids to gases simply contaminates the air.   We’re all down wind from the fumes and we all breathe the same air. 

What to do?

Volunteer groups such as Motor City Free Geek rescue discarded computers and return some of them to useful service.  Computers are checked, overhauled as needed, and loaded with open source (free) software, such as Linux and Open Office.  They are then passed on to churches, nonprofit agencies, or offered for sale in thrift stores.   

Education plays an essential role in a successful salvage operation, both by helping people develop job skills and teaching the use of open source software.  Open source software offers many of the same features as products offered by Microsoft, Apple, and other commercial publishers. The biggest difference is the price. It's free!

The easiest way for someone new to open source programs to gain proficiency is to attend a class.  Tuition is based on a sliding scale and scholarships are available.  Technical support is available with fees based on the ability of the client to pay.  Students can offer free support to help them gain practical experience. 

Revenue for Motor City Free Geek is derived from the sale of recovered materials, thrift store operation, and tuition.  Grants from benevolent sources can be an important source of support, especially during the early growth stage.  Besides refurbished computers, a thrift store can sell donated items of all kinds, including cars, etc. 

Looking ahead

Rescuing usable computers from an uncertain future is the right thing to do, and is also an exciting opportunity to develop processes to automate this important work.  Industrial robot technology has been developed to a very high degree.  Sensors and machine vision devices now have  capabilities only dreamt of a few years ago.  (They're accurate enough to send back valuable information from the Moon and other celestial objects.)  Combining these advanced technologies could create an effective asset recovery process.  

In addition to these powerful tools, there is the collective understanding of how to use them in a manufacturing setting.  This human capital is held in common by highly experienced engineers and technicians, many located in southeast Michigan.  If these people, with their deep understanding of manufacturing processes, could work on building facilities to disassemble manufactured items and recover usable materials, two problems would be addressed at the same time: waste reduction and resource depletion.  

Sounds simple?  Yes, but it’s a really, really big project, comparable in scale to the work done at the M.I.T. Radiation Laboratory in the early 1940’s that transformed microwave radar from a laboratory curiosity to a practical technology which then played a vital role in winning WW II.  The history of this effort is very instructive and offers valuable hints on what can be done and how to go about doing it.

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