If you are like most people throwing away an old piece of electronics seem wasteful, especially when it still works. Many communities require you to recycle old electronics. Even though recycling is a great option – sometimes you can find even better solutions. The objective is to give the printer new life in another business or home, or to repurpose the printer for an altogether different use.
- If the printer still works and you would like a better option than recycling – try donating. This way someone else can continue to use the printer and none of it goes to waste. Plus, as printers get older usually the cost to buy replacement parts and cartridges goes down. So most likely it will be an affordable option for another owner.
- Talk to us! Many times if you have older equipment and want the easiest way to be done with it, let us know what you have and we can help you decide what to do. Sometimes there is a life for older printers and we can find good homes for them. Other times we may be able to take parts for another printer that needs help.
- Take it to the basement – in many cases having an additional printer in a place where you might also want to print occasionally is more convenient than walking to another part of the house or office.
- Upcycle! If your office is offloading the “old printer” you may want to take it home with you. Perhaps your old home printer would be better suited at your desk at work (if allowed). In either scenario you are keeping it out of a landfill and getting some use out of it. It is a win – win!
- Start a project – many times you can use those old printer parts to make something entirely new. Some interesting projects could be, a custom plotter, a DIY 3D printer, a time lapse camera rig – you could do a lot!
Ultimately what you do with that old printer is up to you, just don’t let it go to a landfill. Also, sometimes old printers are still worth something! If you want to get some money for it – try selling it online!
