Recycle & refurbish old Dell PCs back to Dell for 10% discount

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Recycle & refurbish old Dell PCs back to Dell for 10% discount

12520 points posted to Environment by reg 05/18/07

Recycle your old Dell back to Dell for a 10% discount on new equipment. Dell can then secure overwrite erase the hard drive, install Ubuntu + hardware drivers, then donate the hardware to unemployment, food stamp, and welfare offices Nationwide. The social services offices then can pass out the refurbished used equipment to its clients, and Dell can be given BIG tax breaks by the State and Federal Systems.

1. Recycle - Turn it in, don't landfill it.
2. Reuse - There is still life left in that old hardware
3. Reduce - Buy new electronics less often, get 5 years use out of every PC.
4. Refuse - wasteful spending, wasteful practices & wasteful companies.
5. Refute - Once wasteful practices or procedures are identified, correct the problem with Action!

jorge 05/19/07	I think instead of Dell the customer should pay for Dell to do this because the recycle user is so concerned with recycling that paying for their PC to not polute the environment is a small price to pay for a greener, yet brown recycled environment.
reg 05/23/07	Merged Comment - from my own idea... DELL should also offer the recycled PCs to those people on welfare and / or food stamps. Helping the poor would be a super compassionate thing to do. A computer can help people learn new skills, find work on-line, work from home, increase their communications to find new jobs, and offer a doorway to hope, a pathway to a better and brighter future.
reg 05/25/07	Oh, and for older hardware: Light Weight xubuntu runs on simpler systems, needs less RAM and works great on older CPUs: 128 MB RAM to run or 192 MB RAM to install. The Alternate Install CD only required you to have 64 MB RAM. To install Xubuntu, you need 1.5 GB of free space on your hard disk. Once installed, Xubuntu can run with 64 MB RAM, but it is strongly recommended to use at least 128 MB RAM. Screenshots. xubuntu can *fly* on a machine that Windows Vista can't even load on. Advantage: Xubuntu!
goldy 05/25/07	I think the discount percentage should be based on the specs of the computer that you wish to recycle. If its a relatively higher end machine, there should be a larger discount. If its a lower-end machine then it could be a lower discount. If you were to do it based on the specifications of the computer (rather than just a Dell Dimension/XPS/Inspiron/Latitude/etc. ####) this recycling feature could (and should either way) be available for all computers, rather than just Dells. To use a system like this, you just have to ask all the right questions. You need to know the specs, brand, speed, etc., of everything, the motherboard, CPU, memory, HDD, power supply, etc. Then it wouldn't be too difficult to determine a fair discount.
reg 05/25/07	Well, Dell is being nice - the 10% is a big deal already - so 1% ~ 10% : 1% - older than 10 years 5% - 9 years to 2 years old 10% - 23 months to 0 months old (receipt required!) There - so you promote: The Environment Social Responsibility and Increased Sales (a lot of people will hold onto a PC 4 years - but if you want the 10% off, 23 months is the max).
reg 05/26/07	Another way to empower your Recycled Hardware: Puppy Linux . The full Linux operating system, plus a whole suite of popular applications in less than 90 MB of RAM. This Puppy will run on even the slowest Pentiums with very little RAM needed - even from a keychain Flash Drive! The whole Puppy Linux OS and Apps loads as compressed data into RAM - and runs very fast even on old hardware.Download a LiveCD of Puppy Linux, boot your PC from it and take it for a test drive. Have Fun! There is also a special graphical version of Puppy Linux designed for graphics, video, & photography: Grafpup Linux. "Grafpup strives to provide a complete workflow for the digital artist, from beginning to end. As such along with the major graphics applications like Gimp and Inkscape you will also find a variety of support programs and extra features. Color management is enabled for all applications that support it, and there is a basic selection of color profiles included in the standard install. For those doing photographic work there is almost complete support for raw image formats via both dcraw and the ufraw plugin (both Gimp and Cinepaint), as well as the gtkam utility for directly connecting a wide variety of cameras. Scribus and Abiword take care of publishing needs, and Gutenprint provides a wide range of printer drivers." Click either of the icons above to go directly to Puppy Linux or Grafpup Linux Home pages.
reg 05/30/07
reg 06/04/07	Just think of how Clean the Earth would be if Manufactures of EVERYTHING - were also required to handle the disposal of the objects once their product life was done. Cars, Stereos, iPods, TVs, CDs, Fast Food Containers, Coke & Pepsi & Water plastic bottles, all batteries, light bulbs, etc. You Make IT? YOU CLEAN IT UP. Add the cost into the cost of the product, stop dumping your expensive filth on taxpayers and local communities to deal with - producers pay for recycling it 100%.
reg 06/04/07	1. Recycle - Turn it in, don't landfill it. 2. Reuse - There is still life left in that old hardware 3. Reduce - Buy new electronics less often, get 5 years use out of every PC. 4. Refuse - wasteful spending, wasteful practices & wasteful companies. 5. Refute - Once wasteful practices or procedures are identified, correct the problem with Action!
tdavis 06/06/07	My idea is that Dell recycles all plastic (water/pop) bottles. With sites like this (http://www.container-recycling.org/assets/html/plastic/PETsupplyCrisis-04_fil...) We can use numbers to crunch the value that Dell can make over time with this process. Of course this isnt about making money but how to better Green the current system. If one goes here (http://www.container-recycling.org/) one can get the numbers of plastic bottles making their way into landfills along with a lot of other helpful information about recycling plastic bottles. I think that if dell would recycle the plastic bottles at all their locations, this step alone, (yes maybe cumbersome to some of its employees) would be one great leap toward improving the enviroment. At the same time bringing Dell one step closer to becoming the Greenest company in the world. Given the proper time, I could draft up the whole recycle process with a rough outline of all numbers to better the enviroment.
badblood 06/06/07	reg you will win the prize. that's so funny.
reg 06/06/07	de nada.
badblood 06/06/07	you will and you will have to accept your prize on CNN! HAHAHAHAHA/
reg 06/07/07	Remember when people actually did recycle their Large, Heavy Coke bottles? It made sense to everyone then - Glass was expensive to make, just take those big bottle back and get your deposit money back. Now everywhere you look: Plastic WATER bottles all over the ground ?!? It seems instead of moving forwards, our ''progress'' has actually moved society backwards! IT IS TIME TO DISPOSE OF THE DISPOSABLE SOCIETY - our nation, our people, our Planet, our future can not afford it.
reg 06/10/07	Being Green AND Earning More Green CAN go hand-in-hand, convincing people to recycle their OLD (23 month old computer) PC for Purchasing a New PC. Just in case DELL hasn't realized it yet - it is what the American Automotive Industry does: 2 Year Lease - at the end of the lease - you own NOTHING! 2 year old car with low miles = sold for close to new price... Selling the same car TWICE! If you get the Dealer's Financing - add large financing fees to their profit pile. Even Apple has the whole kickback scheme for 'financing an Apple computer on the Apple card' - selling you a Macintosh computer, with outrageous fat margins, AT Interest! ha! One. Born. Every. Minute. When you see Gigabytes of Windows Vista crawling on a brand new computer, and then feel the power of Puppy Linux FLYING at warp speed on 3 year old hardware, you know that you can save money recycling computers, and not have to buy a $5000 machine just to boot up an operating system. THE RESURRECTION OF RECYCLED HARDWARE: Puppy Linux . The full Linux operating system, plus a whole suite of popular applications in less than 90 MB of RAM. Create a full Open Office Workstation on one bootable LiveCD - No Hard Drive needed. The special graphical version of Puppy Linux designed for graphics, video, & photography: Grafpup Linux. "Grafpup provides: Gimp, Inkscape, Color management, support for RAW image formats, dcraw, ufraw, Cinepaint, gtkam utility for directly connecting a wide variety of cameras. Scribus and Abiword publishing, and Gutenprint printer drivers." Click either of the icons above to go directly to Puppy Linux or Grafpup Linux Home pages.
jorge 06/10/07	Can't wait or Pitbull Linux to come out.
reg 06/10/07	You mean an icon like this: Powered by Pitbull Puppy Linux - Advanced Hardened Security Version of Linux.
jorge 06/10/07	Yea! But your link is hosed.
tmac90069 06/11/07	I don't care if I get a discount or not, it would be great just to have a place to send the old computers when I'm done. Really, there are a lot of us out here who aren't really sure what to do with an old computer.
ryanslingshotshannon 06/12/07	good idea
neven 06/12/07	The discount will only motivate people to buy new computers sooner. And I'm still not sure if I want to see those Pentium IV monsters (150-200 watts) reused. Politicians should make sure electronics get disposed of properly, like here in the Netherlands.
arnish27 06/13/07	The onus of recycling is not only on Dell, but on the consumer as well. To recycle an old tire all of us pay a fee to automotive repair shops ... how many of us demand a discount for that service. Lets get real, recycling a computer for free will cost Dell ... asking them for a discount makes no financial sense. Demote!!
ayeohx 06/18/07	Once again, good intentions but is it truely practical? I use to run my own program with clients for recycling parts. Wasn't such a great idea. Do you know how much crap that I have sitting around? ISA cards, 1 to 8 gig HDDs, etc? I no longer have a dining room, I have a computer graveyard (^_^). Another large computer company that I worked for traded in older computer for $100 credit towards another system (more if it was a newer system). The company, the largest in Utah, tanked. When I was clearing out the warehouse we had hundreds on old cases and probably a few thousand components that we sold by the palettes to whoever wanted them. We lost thousands on our lil recycling program. For our business and my own this was not practical and probably helped destroy one of them. And I agree with Arnish. The price of recycling would probably get passed onto us.
reg 06/18/07	Yep - very practical. Best Marketing Idea on Idea Storm. Increases Sales Volume while simultaneously removing older systems from the market space. Those older systems cannibalize your low cost systems' New Sales. Removing them from the market increases new systems sales. Recycling machines in this manner could double sales While creating a new customer base. Giving machines to those who can not buy it creates new customers. They can't afford to buy a new system, so they are not customers yet (want to buy and means to pay). But by working with the older systems, those individuals may move up the social ladder, earn more, and then decide to buy a new Dell, even recycling BACK the computer they got from Dell / Social Welfare Office. It's like the 'Gun Buyback program' you see in some cities, giving people $50 gift cards for groceries if they turn in any old gun. Who came up with that idea? Gun manufacturers, of course. Removing all the old used guns from circulation and crushing them forces people in the community to go out and buy brand new guns again when they want them again. Increasing profits and more sales while earning good P.R. for 'making neighborhoods safer'. Brilliant idea. 2 year Leasing of cars is the other great example. Always have that new car feeling for easy monthly payments. When those 2 year leases are up - the car dealer sells the car as used, a second time, at peak blue book value. Fatter margins on every unit sold. NICE. And for DELL - greening up the environment, removing real toxic items from circulation (CRTs have lots of lead in them), establishing new good will with the new customer base, supporting open source development (which in the long term supports larger margins for hardware manufacturers), removing competition for new PC sales, increasing the computer literacy of the millions of people, and increasing accessory item sales because when people buy a PC it is common for them to also buy a few other items, a printer, camera, scanner, all-in-one machine, media, memory, etc. Recycling is Very helpful for Earth, for the community, and for Dell.
ayeohx 06/18/07	Don't agree. "Giving" machine to people doesn't create new customers directly. And if the machine sucks, which it will since it's old, they won't have a good experience. In fact you may be injuring your company name by recycling crap. Most people give or sell their old computers to their friends or family. 10% from $800 isn't good. You can get heck of a lot more for an old notebook on eBay. Decreased profits (unless system is taken and refurbished and sold) and poor P.R. from recycled junk. Open source software, while awesome for us experienced folks that don't mind learning new programs, is a headache for newbies (unless they are VERY new, then why not screw them up and have them learn something that is not a standard?) From experience in doing the exact same thing you are proposing: No, bad idea.
reg 06/18/07	you just do it badly. Try harder.
ayeohx 06/18/07	I think you're missing the point.
neven 06/19/07	It is indeed the Best Marketing Idea, reg. But is it good for the environment or for curbing greenhouse gas emissions? I'm not too sure. If Dell would implement this, they might get in trouble. This is a very cunning example of greenwash, after all. A company like Dell can never become truly 'green'. It's in their interest to produce and sell as many computers as they can. Something a lot of people don't know: 80% of the energy a computer requires during its lifetime is for production and distribution (http://www.ecopcreview.com/LCA_and_ECPR?page=0%2C1) The people at Dell probably know this, but they'll never tell us. Transparency is bad for business. This idea: Good for selling more computers (like you said), bad for environment and global warming.
rotthund 06/19/07	I recall NYC stopped it's recycling becuase it was too expensive. Dell is pushing legislation to make it's competitors incure the same expense. Customers pay for disposing of the e-trash regardless of who the contact is or whether recycling is in house or outsourced.
reg 06/19/07	Older systems, circuit boards, CRTs, Plastics - all contain greater amounts of harmful chemicals. By recycling - useful things can be made useful again, the slightly toxic things can be disposed of properly, society benefits from the advantages of open source, and the newer equipment people buy, such as LED lit LCDs, less toxic electronics, and energy star power saving systems, provide a cleaner, greener world.
paul_wishall 06/21/07	Agree with the recycling part, but if Dell were to donate anything, there are several charities who deserve donations more than welfare offices.
winoffice 06/27/07	I would be much happier if I myself could get so big tax breaks.
reg 07/01/07
jtoegel 07/03/07	If you install Linux on your Machine, you will be able to use it much longer. Windows gets slower and slower with the time (NTFS is a really bad filesystem, it also destroys the hard disk with the time because of its fragmentation) and new versions will often not even run on your old machine. In average, Linux machines are used twice as long as Windows machines (Win: 3 years, Linux: 6 years)
bbr 07/10/07	My monitor died.... I'd love to turn it in for a discount on a new one. (since repairing it costs as much as a new one, and with ho guarantee on it surviving longer)
reg 07/13/07	If Dell wants to take the lead, Dell must be willing to serve. Help clean up the USA, and clean up $$$ in revenue and increased sales. Apple already does this - 'switch' your PC to a MAC, then recycle any hardware, from any manufacturer - not only does it sell macs, it takes the old PC off the market (competition), seals the path - one way forward, no turning back (loyalty), and disposes of the PC hardware that later could be environmentally problematic (green thinking) - PR value. So not only does Apple switch you to MAC, they destroy any way of your switching back. So DELL could recycle people's old Compaq, HP, Gateway, and make sure they don't switch back! Improved product awareness and customer loyalty.
maverick4ever 07/16/07	This is one of the best ideas I've seen here so far. I think it would be very good for Dell's image, it would help reach a broader audience of customers and it would benefit the original owner of the PC as well.
tchurch65 07/20/07	I agree that this is one of the best ideas I have seen. It will help the environment, help those less fortunate and be a very positive PR move.
liraco 07/22/07	The idea of a discount for Dell would be an added bonus that benefits both sides. First off, the client benefits because they have more icnentive to recycle with Dell and can get some money off on their new computer purchase (it should be able add on or "stack" with other discounts). Dell benefits in that they're improving their image, helping recycle and incetivise recycling as well as keeping or gaining more customers because that discount is for a Dell product which means more sales due to the discount.
philipper 07/26/07	Merged Idea originally posted 06/19/07 Collect old PCs and offer a discount Collect old Dell equipment for recycling and offer a discount on a new recycled PC.
cory_ring 07/26/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/19/07 The problem I see is that Dell doesn't save any money when collecting older hardware... In fact, it costs them money. Dell is one of the only companies that offers free recycling of older systems when purchasing a new one. (Click the recycling options in the configurator.) It's chaotic to think about offering Free shipping + $Dollars Off$ - That's negative profit all the way!
bbr 07/27/07	Merged Idea originally posted 07/10/07 Offer partial refunds for broken / Old hardware turn ins. Imagine the following. A: Whlie trying to add extra memory, you push to hard and the mainboard breaks in half. B: Your monitor breaks down, all you see is static. C: Your hard drive crashes and only produces an odd ticking sound. D: You spill a drink on the keyboard. E: Your old computer breaks down after 5 years of service, it's probably beyond repair. In case A,B,C,D you could send 1 part to dell for replacement, and get a smell refund on buying that replacement from dell again. in case E, i'm sure there would still be bits and pieces that dell could salvage and resell, or recycle. Perhaps a "turn in your old computer" and get (up to) 10% off your new one sort of deal, to encourage people to turn in old hardware rather than throw it away.
davmcn 07/27/07	Merged Comment originally posted 07/10/07 I Love this idea. it would be great.....I like the way you are thinking about the enviroment, Thanks For the suggestions
marzetti 07/27/07	Dell sort of does this already but it's a great idea and I'd like to see it done allot more. :-)
mieg 07/29/07	Since 1999 the Netherlands has a 'disposaltax' for most types of consumer electronics. This means that I paid €5 ($6,50) disposaltax for my microwave. When I order a new one the company delivering my new microwave is bound to offer to collect my old microwave free of charge and dispose of it in a green manner (also: sell as used device). When collecting my old device, the collector is bound to accept all brands to ensure 'orphan' devices are collected too. Computers are not affected by this law. There's a similar system for computers, but without the disposaltax. Instead producers and importers pay for the disposal. Doesn't the U.S. have a collection system or disposaltax or something similar? (I sure hope so, since the U.S. is a very big consumer)
winoffice 07/31/07	Merged Idea originally posted 06/06/07 Discounts for new computers/servers after recycling old hardware If a user recycled an old piece of hardware at Dell (such as a desktop, notebook, printer, etc.), then let him/her get a 10% discount on his/her next computer or server purchase. Include with the offer anything else which he/she wants to purchase that is relevant to the computer or server, such as warranty, printers, software, etc. Make them valid both online and in the store, and make them valid for any computer or server whatsoever (do not give us annoying coupons which say that, for example, the coupon is not valid on XPS). This way, many people might turn to Dell and therefore bring Dell back to number 1 (since Dell would be the first manufacturer to provide such deals) and recycling would be even further promoted (people will want to recycle not just for the environment, but also for saving money on a future purchase).
winoffice 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/06/07 I apologize for everything appering twice (such as "Dell", "Desktops and Notebooks", etc.), but this must be some sort of bug in the Ideastorm web site, as I selected everything only once.
jorge 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/06/07 Why not Dell give recyclers a cool sticker instead, aren't recycling people just happy they recycled and saved the planet? Or are they as money grubbing as everyone else?
dell_admin1 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/06/07 @winoffice - I fixed the categories for you.
winoffice 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/06/07 Dear jorge: You have a good idea in your comment, but it should not prevent recyclers from getting 10% off, so your comment does not give a reason for demoting my idea.
jorge 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/06/07 I don't believe Dell should pay for the cost of recycling your toxic waste, you bought it so its yours not Dell's. Recycling is expensive and adding cost on top of the cost of recycling is just a dumb business move.
winoffice 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/07/07 Dear dell_admin1, Thank you very much for fixing the catefories for me, as I could not do such a thing myself, nor did I do it intentionally.
jorge 07/31/07	Merged Comment originally posted 06/19/07 Again, the consumer needs to take some responsibility for their purchase, whether it be a coke bottle or a computer they need to recycle it not nag a company to do it for them because they don't want to take responsibility for their own actions.
jdelidc 08/01/07	i'm not voting on this yet but here's another idea...... when people send in their recycled system, either strip it and sell the parts to anyone that wants them for $1 or so + shipping, or load linux on it and sell it as an internet/office station for $75 plus shipping
daytraitors 08/03/07	Companies like Dell can take advantage of their scale to aggregate the many old PCs and have them refurbished for use in Africa or other emerging nations. Microsoft can jump on the bandwagon and offer free licenses of Windows XP, if they so desire. Or, Dell can just make everything an Ubuntu or RedHat install. All of the labor would be done overseas, so you don't have to worry about expensive Americans doing all of this work. For an individual like me to do this is not practical. I'm sure there's a way for Dell to strike a deal with the President of Xenabunkaria to defray the cost of rebating customers for the trade in. -d
garth 08/10/07	10% is a little bit to much i think. but it is a good idea
newbs 08/27/07	Yeah definitely. I like this idea. I have lots of old PCs I don't know what to do with.
rotthund 10/15/07	Ha, I voted and commented against this. Now I'm fishing for an attractive trade-up option for my CRT monitor. I'm disappointed our employee discount option excludes monitors and accessories. Trouble is, it'd take a really attractive offer to get me to move.

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