Second Life · Albuquerque

Give your old tech a second life.

Got an old laptop in the closet or a drawer full of phones? I'll take them off your hands in Albuquerque, for free.

Your data gets wiped. Working machines go to homeschool kids. Good parts get reused. Everything else gets recycled the right way.

Donate a Device

What happens to your device

Four steps. No landfill.

  1. 01

    Your data gets wiped

    Every drive is fully wiped before anything else happens to it. Wiped, not shredded. A wiped drive can live on. A shredded one can't.

  2. 02

    Working devices go to homeschool kids

    Laptops, desktops and tablets that still run get cleaned up and passed along through my homeschool network to kids who need one. I teach a homeschool web-dev class, so I know who needs what.

  3. 03

    Good parts get reused

    A machine that won't run often has RAM, drives or a power supply that will. Those go to keeping other machines alive.

  4. 04

    The rest gets recycled properly

    Dead gear goes to Albuquerque's established e-waste recyclers. Never the landfill.

Your data

Worried about what's on it? Good.

That's the number one reason old laptops sit in closets. So here's exactly what I do.

  • Spinning hard drives get a full overwrite.
  • SSDs, phones and tablets get the manufacturer's secure erase, or a factory reset on an encrypted device.
  • It follows the "Clear" and "Purge" approach from NIST SP 800-88, the federal guide to wiping media.
  • Every drive is fully wiped before it gets reused. Every one.

Rather keep the drive? I'll pull it and hand it back to you. Rather wipe it yourself first? Go for it.

What I take

Most things with a chip in them.

Yes, please

  • Laptops and desktops
  • Mini-PCs
  • Tablets and phones
  • Hard drives and SSDs
  • RAM and GPUs
  • Flat-panel monitors
  • Routers, switches and networking gear
  • Keyboards, mice and cables
  • Devices with a swollen battery. I'll pull it, and a new battery often brings it back

No, thanks

  • CRT TVs and monitors
  • Printers and copiers
  • Appliances
  • Anything with a leaking battery

For those, try the City of Albuquerque's Eagle Rock Convenience Center or a Goodwill NM donation center.

Why I do this

I've done this before.

Around 2010 I worked at a computer repair shop. People brought in machines that were "not worth fixing." We'd save the good parts before the rest went to recycling. I loved it.

These days I teach a homeschool web-dev class, and not every kid has a machine to learn on. It's a small thing, but it beats a closet or a landfill.

Donate a device

Tell me what you've got.

Fill this out and it comes straight to my phone. No call center, no ticket number. Just me.

Hand-off

FAQ

Fair questions.

Is it really free?
Yes. I don't charge, and I don't pay. You get rid of it, it gets a second life.
Can I keep my hard drive?
Yes. I'll pull the drive and hand it back to you. You keep the data, I take the rest. You're also welcome to wipe it yourself before you give it to me.
Do you pick up?
Yes. I'll drive out and grab it, meet you somewhere, or you can drop it off. Whatever works for you and what you've got. Send me a message and we'll figure it out.
Can I get a receipt for my taxes?
No. I'm not running an official 501(c)(3), so I can't give you a receipt. If you need one, Goodwill NM gives them.
Who gets the computers?
Homeschool kids in Albuquerque who need a machine to learn on. I hand them out through the homeschool families and classes I'm already part of.
I'm a business with HIPAA or other compliance rules. Can I use you?
Honestly, you should use a certified recycler. I'm not a certified data destruction facility and I won't pretend to be. They can give you the certificates your auditors want.