I came across this great article providing specific ideas about how to re-use your old computers. While recycling is a key aspect of any green philosophy, a focused policy on re-use will yield far more benefits. Why? Because not everything can be recycled, but most everything can be re-used. In fact, a company that utilizes an aggressive re-use policy will generally have a larger green footprint as compared to a company that "only" recycles.
Considering that as much as 40% of all landfills are made up of some form of electronic waste (or e-waste), how to reuse older, functional computer components is important. Here's the article:
Media Centre - Most computers already have a DVD player in so by simply installing a decent graphics card and sound card you can easily turn the old computer into an all singing all dancing media centre. Add a wireless keyboard or remote control and you have complete internet access from your TV, as well as being able to access all your videos and music from the computer and even from across the network! Your PC does not need to be very quick to make a good media centre, the main things to consider are the graphics and sound cards, although even using the onboard graphics and sound will be more than good enough for some people.
Experimenting - So you want to try out a version of Linux, or you want to practice installing upgrades - your old computer is the perfect volunteer. While it may not be good enough for installing the latest operating systems, it will probably handle most Linux operating systems and older versions of windows. This gives you a machine to play about with, change settings, install software you wouldn't normally etc without having to worry about it breaking your main computer. If you aren't comfortable with doing any hardware upgrades, open up the PC and have a look inside, practice installing and removing certain components - its the easiest way to learn!
Server - Ok, so we aren't talking about a fully functional server for a large business, but you will be surprised just how much your old computer can do. Most computers are more than capable of being used as a file server to store all of your files. You can connect a printer to the computer, automatically converting it into a networked printer. The ideas are endless. Once you have your home server up and in place, you will wonder how your survived without it! Want to download lots of files? Leave them downloading on the server. You don't even need a monitor for the server. Set it up using your current monitor and then enable remote desktop. This will allow you to access the server from any other computer on the network without needing a physical monitor to view it.
Give It Away - You bought your new computer so you can play all the latest games or use the latest photo editing software, but for the last couple of years the computer has been good enough for you. The chances are, it will still be good enough for the next few years for somebody else. Why not give the computer to a younger relative, a friend that doesn't have a computer, or even donate it to a local primary school or charity shop?
PC Recycling - We recycle everything else, from paper through to waste food, but for some reason people do not think about recycling their PC's. There is a regulatory board in place which ensures that when you recycle your PC all of the data is destroyed and the PC recycled as much as possible. Individual parts are reused were possible, and were the parts are of no use they are stripped down into individual materials so that they can be recycled efficiently. Some PC recycling companies will take your computer and recycle it for free, some will recycle it for free provided you are not a business, and others may charge a small fee. Now why would you pay to have it recycled? Security! Just throwing your old PC outside for anybody to take away leaves all of your files on the computer for anybody else to see. Even if you have deleted them, it is still possible for someone who knows what they are doing to recover the files. By recycling the PC, you ensure that nobody else will ever see what was on your computer.
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?Recycle-Your-Old-Computer&id=5647556
Here's a good video that covers the pros and cons of computer recycling. Pay attention to the section on security and data privacy.
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