Your old electronics may still have something to offer. A working receiver could play music in another home. A repairable laptop could help someone get online. Our free pickup service gives accepted electronics a chance to be useful again.
Working, broken or untested? Tell us what you have. We review the items and location before confirming.
More use from what is already here
Making electronics takes raw materials, energy and manufacturing. Keeping a useful device in service can reduce the need to make a replacement. The biggest opportunity comes when someone uses the existing device instead of buying new.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency places waste prevention and reuse ahead of recycling in its general waste hierarchy. Recycling still helps recover materials when safe reuse is no longer practical. Read the EPA guidance.
Research, in numbers
The potential of a second life
A 2021 European Commission Joint Research Centre study modelled everyday choices for smartphones. These examples show lower device carbon footprints compared with buying a new phone every two years.
Choose a used phone
79%
Lower modelled carbon footprint
Secondhand instead of new
Assumes each used purchase replaces a new one. Includes battery and screen replacement, transport and charging.
Keep it another year
30%
Lower modelled carbon footprint
Three years instead of two
Keep using the phone you have, with no repair needed in this scenario.
Repair and keep using it
23%
Lower modelled carbon footprint
A screen repair and an extra year
Replace the screen and use the phone for three years instead of two.
Source: Cordella, Alfieri & Sanfelix (2021), tables 1 and 3. Study overview ยท Full study and results (PDF).
How to read these figures. Separate scenarios over the same 4.5-year period; do not add them together. Network and data-centre services are excluded. The used-phone case assumes two years of secondhand use and no industrial remanufacturing. These are not direct comparisons with recycling or landfill.
Foothill’s own impact. We have not measured our own carbon savings. These research estimates do not promise a particular saving, repair result or useful life for your equipment.
Why reuse before recycling?
Reuse keeps the equipment doing a job. Repair can make that possible again. Recycling recovers materials after the equipment reaches the end of its useful life. It cannot preserve all the work that went into making a complete device.
The research supports giving suitable electronics another useful life before recovering their materials. A German study of eight device types found strong reuse potential for small electronics, while some inefficient appliances were better replaced. A Swiss study of five device types also favored reuse for laptops and smartphones in its model.
Recycling remains useful. Transport, repair needs, energy use and how long an item lasts all affect the outcome. There is no single reliable percentage that makes every reused electronic item better than recycling or landfill. Keeping a device in use helps most when it meets a real need and avoids a new purchase.
Research on a secondhand goods centre reinforces that point: the results depend heavily on whether used goods actually take the place of new ones. Simply collecting more items does not establish a carbon saving.
What we will try with your electronics
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Check for another use
We look at the equipment’s condition and whether it could be useful to another owner.
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Fix what we can
We check and clean equipment, and try practical repairs where they make sense. The aim is to make useful items usable again. You do not need to fix or test yours before asking about pickup.
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Find it another home
Suitable equipment may be resold or passed on. Reusable parts can help keep other equipment working. Foothill is a private pickup and resale business.
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Use appropriate recycling when needed
Some equipment cannot be safely or practically reused. We review that before accepting it and arrange appropriate electronics recycling for accepted items that cannot be reused.
Every item is different. We cannot promise a successful repair, a new owner or a particular amount of avoided emissions. Pickup is for equipment you are giving away; it is not a repair-and-return service.
A useful next step for your old electronics
If you still use an item and it meets your needs, keep using it. If you no longer want it, send us a short list and your pickup location. Include the remotes, chargers and accessories you already have.
Before handing over a phone or computer, save the information you need and follow our personal-data preparation guide. Safety and protection of personal information come before reuse.
Keep electronics and batteries out of household trash. Damaged batteries and other excluded items need specialist handling. Check our collection list and exclusions, and the EPA’s electronics donation and recycling guidance for other options.
Give your electronics another chance
Confirmed pickups are free. Contact Steven if you would like help getting started.