Fess Up and Get Rid

Way too many people are in denial. Most of you are. Not me. I am perfect, well apart from my little hidden stash in the bedroom wardrobe, but that really doesn’t count. It’s just a shelf full. Not much at all really and I will sort it out one day.

Ok, I’ll fess up. It’s an old video recorder plus a little CD/Radio and a Virgin box. I mean, am I actually allowed to recycle the Virgin box? The engineer wouldn’t take it but he didn’t say do as you please so I put it on the shelf and closed the door. Several years ago. The CD player works, I just don’t use it since I burst into the digital age. And the video. Well I don’t know what I’ve still got that for. Oh and I forgot about that old keyboard. It’s a spare.

Businesses are worse than that. Much worse. I absolutely guarantee that if you take a walk around your office you will find some WEEE somewhere. Maybe on a shelf, maybe in a cupboard, maybe there is a storeroom somewhere. Broken maybe. Replaced for sure. And yet no one has taken the plunge and actually cleared the decks. It’s like man hoovering. We do the exposed carpet and let’s face it girls, we do it well. We put our backs into it, but no, we don’t move the sofa, or the table, or the TV. That fax machine on the shelf is not in the way.

Ironically, IT people are the worst at this. Networking chaps end up with kit they take from a client as a favour. Not really part of the service but if we can help, and it ends up in the storeroom. Only when the storeroom is creaking at the seams will you do anything about it, and then it has become a real hassle. Because then some fool like me tells you it is going to cost you to remove it.

Well, here is a tip for you. Don’t let it build up. If you are located somewhere accessible, getting a few bits collected won’t cost the Earth if you give us time to do it. We do a lot of £50 jobs. Yes, I would rather do van loads but you do not want to recycle a van load of junk because that will cost you quite a lot. Its ok when it is a project, when there is new kit going in and old going out, but you do not want to save up a lorry load of proper waste.

And think of the risk. Especially if it is someone else’s stuff. Is there a hard drive sitting there? Well if there is and you took that from a client, he just gave you his database and you just left it sitting there? Is that sensible? Are you managing the risk?

So yes, we are all in denial, but I have a cure. Get rid, get a partner like eReco and reclaim that old storeroom for something useful. Check out www.ereco.co.uk for more information.