What do you usually do with old hardware?

I donate old hardware to my local PC Recycler. They supposedly re-purpose the decent hardware and give that to local charities, then recycle the rest.

But recycling usually means loading up a few shipping containers to send somewhere [time.com] without many environmental controls.

Find a more responsible electronic waste recycler here: http://e-stewards.org/ [e-stewards.org]

I hate to just throw things away, and in the past there was no good way to find people that could use the majority of the hardware I had. So I used to hoard it on the rare chance I could find a use for it later, and eventually take it to the electronics recycling after it was 15+ years old. Now I can use Craigslist to get rid of it, so I have gotten into the habit of selling things as soon as I don't have a use for them, while they are still useful to other people.

I've stopped posting things for free, since the people who responded to those tended to be a much bigger hassle. They would say they were picking it up at a certain time, and I would never hear from them again. They would would insist on sending detailed questions on the condition of the equipment through text messages even though my posting stated in caps not to text me. And I got the impression that most of them were just getting the stuff to hoard it as well, since you can't beat free. I have found that just setting a $5 price weeds out most of those folks.

Even stuff like 386/486 era PCs generally get claimed within a day or so. About the only thing that nobody seems to want anymore are CRT monitors.

http://www.freecycle.org/ [freecycle.org]

I've also picked up quite a few pieces of gear from other freecyclers over the years. One man's junk and all that...

It's not just for the US anymore...
http://www.freecycle.org/group/?noautodetect=1 [freecycle.org]

Freecycle is the perfect matchmaker between folks who are getting rid of stuff and folks who are looking for stuff. You think nobody in their right mind would want this old piece of junk? Think again!

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with The Freecycle Network®; I just participate frequently.

We have a service like in the Bay Area, it's called Weird Stuff Warehouse [weirdstuff.com]. I'm not sure I have had anything they wouldn't take and either recycle or fix up and resell...