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MacRecycleClinic Heads into 2013

January 23, 2013 Comments off
MRC Volunteer Jim Ritz works with a client's iMac

MRC Volunteer Jim Ritz works with a client’s iMac

We’ve hit January yet again and MRC continues to move forward with its goal of recycling and refurbishing Macs. Over the past few months, we have started moving away from most of the older PPC models save the newest and fastest model G4s and G5s. Interestingly, one of the predictors here are Macs that use the original Airport card. Turns out they are becoming incompatible with newer wireless systems – they are not able to provide the higher level of security these new wireless systems demand and won’t let the Macs log into the network. That said – if you need an original Airport or Airport Express let us know – we have many for sale inexpensively!

We’re starting to see some Intels coming in finally but many have had hard use or were damaged when picked up. So we have continued to gather equipment and then try to make one good machine from 2 or more that are damaged.

We’ve continued to donate machines to local school students and families in the Silver Spring area and remain open to recommendations from school counselors or non profits. Recently, we gave a machine to a 6 year old who is being home-schooled. He and his mom took a cab and buses all the way over from Landover to pick up their iMac. We are planning once again to provide laptops to Montgomery County Schools in the Downcounty Consortium for their AfterProm/PostProm parties. We were able to provide machines to every school in the Downcounty last year!

Machines that can not be salvaged are now totally disassembled (to the extent that they can) and are recycled both to a third part recycling company or back to the Montgomery County Government’s Shady Grove Transfer Station in Derwood.

MRC Volunteers work on a sad iMac

MRC Volunteers Jade Curtis and Phil Marchetti work on a sad iMac while MRC clients look on.

We continue our Monday Night Clinic at Marvin Church (Four Corners/Silver Spring) from 7 to 9 pm and tho we are not overwhelmed (a good thing!), we have had a steady stream of folks coming in for help. Some folks have sick Macs, others are looking for help transferring their data from an old machine to a new one. We’re here to help! And trust that we will tell you if we can’t repair something as well.

One frustration remains the Mac Lab we set up at Marvin for use by students or the community – it just sits there unused at the moment. We are hoping the folks at Marvin can find a way to get some adult supervision in the afternoon so the lab can be used.

Please let us know how we can help! We have folks with many, many years of experience who are willing to do things Apple and local businesses are unwilling to do (because it is not cost effective for the most part). As a non-profit, we simply ask for a donation for our time – all the money goes to MRC since we are all volunteers.

 

An Update and Look Forward to the Summer

May 27, 2012 Comments off

Monday Night Clinic - MRCOnce again I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for reading the blog and giving us a chance to talk about what MacRecycleClinic is all about. The stats say we have had more than 7,000 hits – just amazing for an occasional blog. So thank you!

The Clinic is only open Mondays (save holidays) from 7 to 9 PM which makes it a challenge for folks to find us or take advantage of our services. We only work on out-of-warranty machines but love to answer questions and can help install software or hardware on any Mac. We have also been asked to help grab information from older machines (going WAY BACK in fact to original Macs and even Apple IIs and ///s) or just help keep older machines working.

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Maryland Recycles Website – Worth the Visit

June 21, 2011 Comments off

Looking for new links for RecycleMac and what should come up than a great website that focuses on recycling in Maryland – mdrecycles.org. Our links (on the right side of the blog) offer a lot of resources, including one from Montgomery County where the MacRecycleClinic operates. But this site comes from the state and offers a ton of great information.

As it says: “Whether you’re at home, at work or somewhere in between, recycled materials are present in almost everything we use. In fact, recycled material is so common, it’s easy to forget that recycling is a conscious decision, a choice we make based on a variety of factors. On mdrecycles.org, you’ll discover which materials are recyclable, find companies that will pick up recyclable material, and learn how to reduce your waste management costs while helping to create a cleaner environment for all of us.”

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