Resourceful Ways To Recycle Laptops

Recycling Is A Good Thing

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone does something that is simply too good not to share. This is about laptop computers and strange-but-true things people do with them. I’m all for recycling, so I thought some of these examples would definitely be interesting. and may just have to check them out. Who needs a Stress Ball when you have old technology at your disposal?

Kung Fu Training

So you want to progress through the ranks and get the next color belt to add to your collection. You have no blocks of wood or bricks to use. No problem at all– grab an old laptop and have a friend hold it. Give it a few good, swift kicks until you totally destroy it or break your foot or toes in the process. I am going to pass on this one. I envision myself in a cast and with crutches.

Killing Pesky Varmints

An old laptop is great to have on hand when you can’t find the fly swatter. If the screen still works, you can turn it on to lure the pesky bugs to the bright light. Once they are there, quickly close the lid and you now have trapped the little varmints, and made your keyboard pretty disgusting in the process.

Nut Cracker

It is the Holidays and you will be entertaining guests. It figures you can’t find the nutcracker or a hammer. Trusty old laptops were made tough, no worries. Grab that laptop, place it on a hard surface insert a walnut or a few (in the shell) with the pointed end up. Drop the lid on them until the nut cracks along its axis and BAM, you have shelled walnuts.  Messy but it works in a pinch.

Heating Leftovers

Laptops are notorious for running hot if left on all the time and if they are older and the vents are blocked. Why not see if you can fry an egg or heat up leftovers. I speak from experience, before I knew the right-and-wrongs of owning a laptop, I enjoyed holding it on my lap in the winter and warming up my thighs. Why not heat up leftovers and put it to good use?

Laptop Stool

When I was younger in Girl Scouts we took old metal cans and decorated them and added a rope handle which was attached and called it a sit-upon. You could put things inside it and carry it around and you instantly had a chair to sit on. That old laptop (or the one you currently use) can also be used in the event you need to rest your legs a bit. Open it up and slowly lower yourself onto it. You will definitely capture people’s interest when they see you sitting on a laptop. Note: I cannot emphasize enough to slowly squat onto it as it may leave ridge marks on your backside. If you have opted to eat that extra doughnut understand the additional weight may find you sitting on the floor and not the laptop.

More Ideas

I was feeling creative so here are some other ideas. Feel free to add to this list:

• Scraping your windshield of ice when you can’t find the ice scraper. The thought of this makes me cringe, but it sure is funny.
• Make a bird house or small dog house by opening the laptop up and tenting it. I am pretty sure my Golden Retrievers and Collies would not fit under any of my laptops.
• Dustpan when you can’t find one and are in a hurry to get the dirt picked up

The best thing you could do though, is to peruse old Dave’s Computer Tips (DCT) articles and empower yourself to fix it. You can make the laptop RUN again! Maybe you just want to use it as a spare. Maybe you want to see what the inside looks like. To get it to run well again, blow the dust off, do some software cleanup, clean the internal components, or format it. There are many valuable DCT articles to help you, including the DCT Forum.

Be sure to add your own comments about what you can do with an old laptop or gadget.

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