Don’t Throw Out Your Old Keyboard, Do This Instead – BGR

Nothing lasts forever. No matter how well your trusty keyboard has served you, you’ll eventually have to change it. Whether it’s completely broken down or if you’ve just gotten a newer, shinier alternative that fits your needs better, no one should hold onto something useless. This doesn’t mean you should be throwing out your old keyboards, though, as components inside electronics — including keyboards — can be hazardous to the environment if dumped like any other trash. Fortunately, just like with your old work computer, there are a ton of better uses for an old keyboard than trashing it.

You can trade in your keyboard at retailers like Best Buy to get store credits and vouchers, donate them to places or people that might need them, or recycle them properly to ensure no hazardous waste spoils the environment. All of these help you contribute to the community around you and lower the amount of untreatable waste produced, and you get personal benefits out of doing so in the form of cash and vouchers. Here are some additional ideas for your old keyboard.

You don’t always stop using something just because it stops working. If you get a better alternative or just don’t like how it feels anymore, the keyboard might not be worth much to you, but that doesn’t mean others won’t benefit from it. Local schools and libraries are often looking for spare tech to provide to students, as not a lot of budget is often left for it. If you have a keyboard lying around that works fine, visiting a school or library and asking if they’re accepting donations is an amazing way to contribute to your community while also reducing harmful waste.

Alternatively, you can also give away the keyboard to small thrift stores or local repair shops. They can either resell it to make a small buck or take apart the keyboard to get components they can use elsewhere. Either way, you don’t have to throw out something that can benefit someone else, even if it’s just an old keyboard. Even just giving your old keyboard to a family member or a friend — either for their own use, or for someone they know — is much better than throwing it away.

If your old keyboard still functions completely fine, but you’ve gotten bored with it or have an upgrade, you can list it on a website like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or eBay. While there are other options to get money or vouchers from the keyboard, they typically only give a small portion of the price. Depending on the quality of the keyboard and its demand, selling it directly to a user instead of a manufacturer wanting to harvest its components can easily boost your profits.

Unfortunately, this approach is a lot more hands-on than others. It isn’t as easy as going to a place and dumping your keyboard; you’ll have to set up and maintain a seller post on a website. This includes adding pictures, writing a description, specifications, and an FAQ, and then maintaining the post while answering potential buyers’ questions. While this has the highest potential return, it also requires the most effort. 

If your old keyboard still works fine, but you don’t want to deal with the hassle that comes with any of the other disposal methods, the quickest way to get rid of it (and make a quick buck doing so) is by opting for a trade-in program. These let you give away a specific item you have — provided that there’s a demand for it, which you can check online — and then get instant cashback. This can be in the form of cash, vouchers, credits, or even another similarly priced product.

If you’ve got an item that’s sought-after, such as a Razer or an Apple Magic Keyboard, you can get an estimated value at Best Buy’s trade-in page. If you’re satisfied with what you’ll get, you can either ship the item to them or drop it off yourself. There are other similar programs offered by Amazon, Microsoft, and other companies as well, with vouchers and cashback. You should keep in mind that these offer nowhere near as good a price as selling it yourself, typically offering anywhere from 5-20% of the item’s original value. Still, if you have something lying around and need to get some money quickly, they’re worth looking into.

Improper treatment of what we throw out can lead to disastrous results in the long term. This is doubly true for electronic products that have parts that can leak harmful chemicals into the environment. While this isn’t as bad as it is for major PC components such as the CPU, your peripherals still have parts inside that shouldn’t be dumped without proper consideration. Luckily, there are a ton of places that can properly process and recycle peripherals for you. 

Goodwill, for example, has the Dell Reconnect program, where you can drop off any electronics for a tax-deductible receipt. They’ll take out any working parts and refurbish them, either selling them as one of Dell’s refurbished products or finding them a new owner. To do this, simply drop off your keyboard at the nearest Goodwill. 

Best Buy also has a similar program that lets you recycle products. Unlike Goodwill, you don’t have to drop your items off in person at Best Buy. Instead, you can pay a fee to mail it to them. If you’re recycling your item physically by going to a Best Buy store, you can apply for the Logitech Recycling program to get a 20% coupon for your next Logitech mouse or keyboard purchase. Staples also has a recycling program that lets you get in-store points if you’re an Easy Rewards member, which can be used as store credits.

If your old keyboard has something that you especially love — be it the sound of the switches or how the keycaps look — you can take it apart and store those items for yourself. For the keycaps, you can collect them and display them, sure, but you can also put them on a newer keyboard. If your newer keyboard features hot-swapping, being able to replace the keys and switches without special tools, you can put them in without much effort.

If you’re well-versed in computer hardware or know someone who is, you can recycle a keyboard yourself. You can remove any environmentally harmful components from the keyboard and reuse it separately. This reduces the amount of waste, letting you recycle the skeleton without many risks, and it potentially gives you some spare components that you can use to repair other hardware. It’s still better to give it away to be recycled professionally, but getting rid of hazards yourself is much better than just dumping the whole keyboard in the trash.