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Claudesgirl

Q: Can I just trash an old Imagewriter or is there something to remove first?

I have found 2 ancient Imagewriters in my mother's house. Can I simply put these in the city trash or do they contain bad ingredients that should not go into a regular landfill? (as is found in most monitors / displays) How do I find this out?? Perhaps lowendmac.com?? Any repair people here who might know or can point me to where I can find the answer? They are both pre1987, and each are quite heavy.

Message was edited by: Host (to clarify subject)

Imagewriter disposal question, recycling

Posted on Oct 17, 2010 3:13 PM

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Q: Can I just trash an old Imagewriter or is there something to remove first?

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  • by varjak paw,

    varjak paw varjak paw Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    Level 10 (169,883 points)
    Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    To the best of my knowledge, those printers contain no hazardous waste, so they could (depending on your local regulations - check with your city government) be put in the trash. That said, though, it's best to avoid putting anything in a landfill if it can be avoided, so you might check around and see if any used computer store in your area could use them for parts. Check also with any recycling services in your area to see if they'll take them to reclaim any of the materials. There are also national recycling programs, such as this one:

    http://www.recycleapc.com/apple/index.asp

    There is a charge with such programs, but dumping stuff in a landfill also has a cost; it's just hidden in the various taxes and in the unallocated costs we all incur for resource waste and environmental degradation.

    Regards.
  • by Claudesgirl,

    Claudesgirl Claudesgirl Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to varjak paw
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to varjak paw
    Thanks Dave from A Kingdom far far away. (watch out for the black cape guys). Yes there is a local place that will take this for a fee. This thing is full of real metal parts (weighs a ton), and with the price of heavy metals... someone who knows what they're doing could probably melt part of it down and sell it. Our county also has special days at their recycling place when you can take your computers there for free -- I'll do that.
  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    Level 9 (53,921 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    If there's a Craiglist city near you there might be somebody interested in having them for free. Oddly enough there are still people out there running old printers like that since they never actually felt they needed to upgrade!
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Limnos
    Those printers are pretty indestructible.

    I print my household checks using Quicken with an ImageWriter II. I can keep the checks loaded all the time and just make the printer not ready to avoid dumping kids game pictures on the checks.

    Mine has a LocalTalk option card and uses a farallon AppleTalk-over-Ethernet to Appletalk/LocalTalk converter. About the only change I had to make was picking a font that was a little bolder than plain Helvetica or New York. And ordering the pinfeed checks, of course.

    Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder
  • by Texas Mac Man,

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Oct 17, 2010 3:14 PM in response to Claudesgirl
    Another option to give them away, is the Rochester Freecyclee @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RochesterNY_Freecycle/

     Cheers, Tom
  • by Claudesgirl,

    Claudesgirl Claudesgirl Oct 17, 2010 3:15 PM in response to Texas Mac Man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2010 3:15 PM in response to Texas Mac Man
    OK Thanks. I will try freecycle, etc. the local MUG.