Not buying new

[bonniethomas06]

Well I don't begrudge you buying new at all - I would too, so that I benefitted from the warranty.

That said, it is scary to think about the mountain of old hardware piling up! If 40million people (not including offices) have a computer and replace it every 8 years, god knows how many landfills worth that is!

Our recycling centre takes old hardware and sends it somewhere to be stripped down for components. From an environmental point of view, would your old machine be better off recycled?

Unfortunately these days I think a computer is just as key to life as a washing machine - I know I couldn't exist without one.

[Flo]

I'd have to remove the hard drive or run it through a cleaning programme first before recycling the computer. No good sending it off with a lot of personal information on it!

[Green Aura]

Your last comment sparked a discussion with my OH. Apparently we still have ALL our old hard drives and laptops (OH's livelihood depends on a good computer so gets replaced fairly regularly and passed down to us mere mortals)- he'd been thinking he ought to wipe them so we can dispose of them (by whatever route).

Anyway, although he's never used it obviously, he tells me there's a site DBAN.org which offers free wiping software.

And I wonder why my house is full of junk!:lol:

[Flo]

It's quite a thing as to which side of a partnership collects most junk. All I can say is that house clearing after relatives leaving can be more traumatic than disposing of the dear departed.

[Odsox]

Apparently we still have ALL our old hard drives and laptops

So do I, right back to my first 250 Mb one. I started keeping mine in case I ever wanted anything that was on them, and now because of the security aspect.
Do you remember when they were called "Winchester Disks" and you had to take out a mortgage to buy one?

[Green Aura]

Do you remember when they were called "Winchester Disks" and you had to take out a mortgage to buy one?

No I don't! OH has just shown me a picture of one

[Odsox]

OH has just shown me a picture of one

Computer p0rn eh?

[Green Aura]

Whatever floats your boat, Tony.

Our gal has a 2TB travel hard drive that fits in a pocket and I'm guessing even that's near obselete.

[diggernotdreamer]

Anyway, although he's never used it obviously, he tells me there's a site DBAN.org which offers free wiping software.

Alternatively, I can recommend a good computer repair bloke, wiped my entire hard drive, the whole thing yep, I actually didn't want that to happen

[Flo]

I come back to this ancient conversation as I'm reducing my allotments back to 1 from 2 after three years. We've a waiting list for a change so it's not fair to keep two as they are big ones. It's recycling I suppose. However, I want to take cuttings and fruit bushes from the newer one back to the older one. Now do you think that anyone has 50 litre or upwards plant pots to use for that? Well you can get any number of smaller ones up to the size of nearly flower buckets. But anything bigger? Hmm gold dust seems to be more common.

Why not put them in the ground? Well it's an odd allotment with a large concrete hard standing down the middle. That reduces a chunk of space but can be used for growing now that I've acquired pallets free and garnered or paid for (mostly paid for) bigger pots. Then there's the fact that there are already 5 full sized fruit trees on the plot, along with a large raspberry area. Along with the shed (new) on pavings that were there already.

You want to see what people offer free for gardens and allotments - compost bin minus parts, full compost bin needs moving now, shed with dodgy roof (would have been fine if it wasn't plastic so not that easy to repair), greenhouse glass from an old sized greenhouse that fits nothing new. And small plant pots by the lorry load. At one point there was half a skip full next to the allotment association trading hut where plot holders had dumped them over the years when clearing plots (someone will want them ... was a long job clearing them to the tip as no-one did want them and they just sat there growing in number ).

Why not just buy new fruit bushes? But I paid for the ones I want to move because I couldn't get any cuttings.

[ina]

Now do you think that anyone has 50 litre or upwards plant pots to use for that? Well you can get any number of smaller ones up to the size of nearly flower buckets. But anything bigger? Hmm gold dust seems to be more common.

You need to get to know some livestock farmers. Some cattle and sheep licks come in huge tubs; I've got an oak tree in one ( ), and blueberries in another two. Still got one spare, but sending that wouldn't really make sense...

[Flo]

Now I didn't know that Ina. Should have asked here first.

[Viper254]

Reading back through this conversation, if anybody is holding on to a laptop that ran Windows 98, ME or XP and wants rid I'd be happy to send you some beer/fruit bush money and have it picked up without a hard disk installed; Mrs. Viper has blown up the one she uses exclusively for writing and playing Theme Hospital. Turns out you can get a lot more done with a PC that's permanently offline.

I am keeping a close eye on a big layby not so far from us where lorries pull up overnight - they routinely throw empty containers and pallets into the ditch there, and I'm getting a lot of kindling wood at the moment. I have been looking out for those blue containers that have the clippy lids - they'd be brilliant for fruit bushes.

I have made a concious effort over the last two years to move away from buying new things, but I do sometimes still have a moment of weakness. About 50% of the time, I come to regret it because of the quality of what I've bought, which is often underwhelming

[Green Aura]

those blue containers that have the clippy lids

They're food prep tubs, Viper. I bought a load off Ebay a good few years back. If there's a big food prep company anywhere near you might be able to get some free/cheap - they don't seem to re-use them.

Take care though - these places seem to be particularly high areas for Covid-19 clusters!

[Viper254]

those blue containers that have the clippy lids

They're food prep tubs, Viper. I bought a load off Ebay a good few years back. If there's a big food prep company anywhere near you might be able to get some free/cheap - they don't seem to re-use them.

Take care though - these places seem to be particularly high areas for Covid-19 clusters!

We have Mr. Kipling down the road. They are exceedingly good cakes