(http://thewiredhomeschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/recycle-tech.jpg)

As Christmas approaches, many of us are going to have tech that is either broken or going to be replaced because it’s too old. Disposing of it responsibly can be difficult.

For the purpose of this podcast, we’ll assume that you’ve decided not to repurpose the old tech yourself. If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of old tech sitting around already that you’re going to use again “some day”.

Here are some ways you can recycle or reuse old tech.

Functional Tech

If the tech you have is still functional just throwing it out is wasteful. Any tech that has a little life in it could still be used. Just because that 5 year old laptop isn’t up to par for your uses, someone else could still make use of it. Here are some ideas.

* Donate It – Charities like Goodwill will take your old useable tech but consider find a specific local charity that could use it.

* Sell It – Swappa (https://swappa.com), eBay (https://ebay.com), and Craigslist (https://craiglist.org) are good ways to make a little spare money from old tech that’s still useable.

* Trade-In – Some retailers and manufacturers allow you to trade-in your old tech to get a discount when purchasing new products.

* Recycle It – There are a number of different ways you can recycle old tech, we’ll talk about those in the next list.

Non-Functional Tech

If you have tech that doesn’t work, you could try and sell the parts and recycle any leftover components but that takes a lot of time and for most people is too much of a hassle. The easiest way to get rid of old tech is to recycle it. The three places you can usually recycle tech are:

* Retail Outlets – Staples (http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/sustainability-center/recycling-services/?icid=SustRecycling:topnav:3:RECYCLE:), Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025), and other major retail outlets all have recycling programs.

* State and County Recycling Centers – Consult your state and county websites to see if they have a tech recycling program and how you can participate.

* Manufacturers – Apple, Dell, and other major computer manufacturers all have recycling programs.

Before donating any technology, make sure your personal data has been removed. I often remove my hard drives and recycle them separately. Before recycling a hard drive, always use a data wiping tool like DBAN (http://www.dban.org/) to overwrite all of your old data.

Super Mario Run

My initial reaction (http://thewiredhomeschool.com/super-mario-run-initial-reaction/) to Super Mario Run

iTunes Description: A new kind of Mario game (http://A new kind of Mario game that you can play with one hand. In this game, Mario constantly moves forward through the courses while you use a variety of jumps to navigate. Mario will behave differently depending on the timing of your taps, so it's up to you to show off particularly smooth moves, gather coins, and reach the goal.) that you can play with one hand.

In this game, Mario constantly moves forward through the courses while you use a variety of jumps to navigate. Mario will behave differently depending on the timing of your taps, so it’s up to you to show off particularly smooth moves, gather coins, and reach the goal.

Cost: First 3 levels are free. $9.99 to unlock all levels.

For more a more detailed review of Super Mario Run read my guest post (http://safe.becausefamily.org/what-parents-need-to-know-about-super-mario-run/) over at BecauseFamily.

New Live-Streaming Features

Instagram Live Video – Live stories disappear after you’re finished broadcasting. No replays. Followers have to be on Instagram when you’re broadcasting.

Twitter Live – Works like Periscope. People on Twitter and Periscope can watch and comment. Shows up in Twitter feed. Good for reuse.

Twitter #GoLive (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoLive?