The Connection, Inc Blog

Remember that blender you got last holiday season that you let collect dust in the closet for a month? Maybe you decided to open it to view the instruction manual, then put it away since you would never, ever, actually use it. The only thing is, now that you actually want to use the manual, you can’t find it. Thankfully, the Internet, once again, is here to save the day, in the form of the online electronic manual.

So you’ve gotten yourself some new hardware. That’s great, but what are you going to do with your old equipment? You need to make sure that you’re handling your old technology properly, and there may be ways for your old hardware to find a second life. Before chucking it in the trash, first consider your options.

Let me ask you a simple question: how many cell phones have you had over the years? For some of us, upgrades are a yearly occurrence. For others possibly bi-yearly. Have you ever wondered where your old cell phone goes after it is out of your hands? 

Recycling is an important, but commonly forgotten topic in today’s digital age. Electrical devices are not something that can be mixed into your local landfill. It is a very toxic, hazardous waste. In various states across the US, it is actually illegal to dispose of electronics in the trash. So why is this?

Take a Look at What Is Inside

Inside of most electrical devices, you’ll find common materials such as aluminum, copper, and sometimes gold. Aluminum is typically used to create the structure of these electrical devices. It is a very common, strong, lightweight material. Copper and gold are excellent conductors and very resistant to corrosion when housed correctly. However, contained within most electrical devices are also toxic elements and materials. Sulfur, mercury, lead, chromium, beryllium oxide, cadmium; some or all of these could be lurking in that computer monitor you’re about to send off to the local landfill. 

Dispose of them Safely

As you might imagine with the ever-growing amount of electrical devices, there isn’t one set in stone procedure for all of this waste. There are also devices which most people do not even consider to be e-waste but should not be thrown away. When devices are sent away, typically they are crushed into as small of a space as possible. In this process, toxic chemicals and materials become exposed. Electrical devices typically need to be disassembled in order to be disposed of safely. E-waste is typically sent to processing plants which specialize in disassembling these products. While this is a safer route -- deconstructing these products is still a dangerous task. Let’s take a look at one example.

Samsung Note 7 -- A Hot Topic 

In the manufacturing industry, recalls are not uncommon. Devices are typically rigorously tested before leaving the plant, but what happens when a fatal flaw appears? This is exactly what happened with the Samsung Note 7. While models were quickly pulled from shelves, the batteries that powered them still are used in a variety of products. These batteries became notorious for short circuiting, which led to them combusting or even exploding. These devices required manual disassembling. 

Workers at the recycling plant were in charge of disassembling these potentially dangerous devices. They were equipped with heavy duty gloves, tongs, and even fire containment bins. What makes these devices different from the AA batteries you change every few months in your TV remote, is the fact that they are lithium ion batteries. These contain thousands of connected cells meaning they have an incredible amount of potential energy. This is why they can be so destructive.

Different battery technologies are enabling consumers to have longer lasting, more powerful devices. Whether it’s your new and improved battery in your smartphone, or your battery powered lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, or even the self-balancing hover board you purchased for Tim’s 12th birthday that just broke; these electrical devices need to be handled responsibly.

So, what do you do? Recycle battery powered devices, or dispose of them?

All devices, whether it’s your outdated cell phone, your undersized computer monitor, or even your in-home appliances -- all should be handled properly if you decide their product life has expired. You don’t know what toxic material is lurking in the underbelly of your device, and when dealing with your environment waste plant workers lives; it’s better to be safe than sorry.

If the time has come and replacing office devices has become imminent, The Connection can help. Our professionals have the know-how to make sure you are disposing of your devices safely and in a responsible manner, without risking losing or exposing critical data. Call (732) 291-5938 to learn more.

Businesses today want to save money and cut costs whenever possible, and technology has made it much easier to do so. Now, organizations can eliminate unnecessary hardware, clear the office space of file storage systems, and even eliminate clutter associated with paper documents.

The Benefits of Going Paperless
Your business can benefit greatly from eliminating paper consumption. The following are potential gains that will improve your business’s operations and bottom line.

• Cost savings: How much does your business spend annually on ink and paper products? If your organization can cut down on the amount of printing that it does, you’ll naturally spend less on paper and ink, increasing your bottom line and freeing up funds that can be spent elsewhere.
• Clutter and wasted space: You don’t need us to tell you that filing cabinets are huge and bulky wastes of space. While they might help you keep paper clutter to a minimum, they’re a pain to move and an even bigger pain to take with you if you relocate your office. Wouldn’t it be nice to just store your files digitally and not worry about dragging unnecessary furniture with you?
• Easily-searchable file archiving: How much time do you waste digging through filing cabinets whenever you need a specific document? With electronic record storage, searching through files has never been easier.
• Backup services: In the event of a disaster, what’s more likely to survive; your digital files that are safely stored in the cloud, or your physical documents that are vulnerable to water and fire damage? Not only does storing your files digitally make them more secure, but it also makes them much easier to back up and restore in case disaster strikes.

How it Helps the Environment
According to PaperlessProductivity, one tree produces, on average, 17 reams of paper. This same tree takes at least 100 years to grow. If you consider how much paper your business uses every day, and then multiply that for every business in the world, chances are that you’ll come up with a number that well exceeds the amount of paper that a single tree can provide. That’s not to mention other users of paper products, like universities, individual consumers, government agencies, and so on. Just think - it takes over 100 years to replace what modern businesses use for paper documents every day.

How We Can Help
If your business wants the opportunity to drastically eliminate paper waste and printing costs, The Connection can help. We can equip your business with an electronic record storage system that’s designed to store your paper documents in a secure, compliant digital space. This helps to keep your documents safe and sound, while making them easy to find when they’re needed.

Plus, if you’re still (somehow) attached to your fax machine, we can help your business implement a fax server that can essentially transform your business’s faxes into emails that hit your inbox. To learn more, give us a call at (732) 291-5938.

Businesses always try to eliminate unnecessary costs, but printing isn’t necessarily everyone’s first idea of an unnecessary cost. With so much revenue being invested in paper, ink, and toner every year, just think of how many resources this can free up for your business if you could find a way to eliminate them from your budget. With the right technology solutions, you can easily cut costs on printing.