Archive
Capitolmac Baltimore Closes
The Apple Universe can be a tough one to operate in. Recently, Baltimore’s Capitolmac – an Apple authorized retailer – closed its doors after an 11 year run. Owner and president Dheeraj Vasishta told the Baltimore Business Journal late last year the closure was primarily due to money: “The margins on everything got tighter over the years,” he said. “It’s always bad when selling Apple products, but the squeeze got tighter on repairs. It really comes down to money, as it always does.”
Last week, MacRecycleClinic was invited to come see the Capitolmac Fells Point, Baltimore store (there are two others in Richmond and Williamsburg. The Williamsburg store, operated by another owner, will continue).
We were able to see both the front end retail store and back-end where the company did repairs and kept a ton of older machines and parts. We were able to come back later and gleen some of the older Mac parts- hopefully to use in our own refurbishing/recycling efforts here in Silver Spring.
As Vashishta noted to the Baltimore Business Journal, it is always going to be tough running a small business, but trying to be a technology retailer can be especially challenging. We’re sorry to see Captiolmac go because it has an impact on consumer choice as well as consumer experience.
Some shots of the Capitolmac Apple retail and repair store in Fells Point, Baltimore after it closed.
Why Is It Getting More Difficult to Recycle Macs?
Even older MacBooks are challenging to repair.
We have talked in the past about how much more difficult it is getting to recycle Macs, and frankly many other PC brands – especially laptops.
Now word that the upcoming MacBook will be even worse. A beautifully thin machine glued together with a battery that literally can’t be replaced. Shredding is not even an option.
This article by Huffington Post Reporter Andy Campbell tells the tale. But it reflects what we continue to see at the Clinic. We are only accepting and working on Intel machines now, so we are already having to deal with issues of machines that – for example – might only need a new hard drive, but it’s just too difficult to open up to replace. And that means it is harder for us to meet our goal of getting perfectly good machines back to folks who need them.
Frustration, thy name is increasingly Mac.
The Huffington Post article can be found here:
Apple’s Next MacBook Will Probably Be Terrible For The Planet
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/05/31/apple-new-macbook-unsustainable_n_10228840.html
State Recycling Programs & Disposal Restrictions
Thanks to Verizon Wireless for providing this great list of sites across the U.S. where you can recycle electronics.
Some states have established electronic waste recycle programs, including many that are free to consumers.
Recyclemac comment: Why are there only 13 states out there doing this kind of thing? IF your state is NOT LISTED let us know and we’ll add them here..
- Connecticut or call 1-888-424-4193
- Hawaii or call 1-808-586-4226
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Minnesota or call 1-800-657-3864
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Oregon Oregon E-Cycles: Free recycling for computers, monitors and TVs or call 1-888-5-ECYCLE
- Pennsylvania or call 1-800-346-4242
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Washington Recycle computers, monitors and TVs free of charge or call 1-800-RECYCLE.
- Wisconsin or call 1-800-943-0003
Note: North Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin prohibit the disposal of netbook computers, tablets and in Wisconsin, cellphones, in solid waste landfills. Other states may have similar restrictions. More information is available on the websites identified above
Protect your Personal Data
Most recyclers will attempt to erase data from refurbished or recycled devices. However, it is good practice to purge your personal data – your contact list, photos, text messages, etc. – before giving it over to a recycler (or passing it to a family member or friend).
MRC Donates PowerMac Labs to Two Area Schools
SILVER SPRING, Md. – The Mac Recycle Clinic (MRC) got the school year off to a good start with donations for two area schools:
– 12 complete PowerMac systems went to the Cheverly (Md.) STEM Education Center located in the Cheverly United Methodist Church. The school provides Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) classes for area home schoolers.
– 6 additional towers went to the Chance Academy, which is located in the Michigan Park Christian Church in Washington, D.C.. This school provides the homeschool network in Maryland and the District of Columbia with academic programs in the sciences.
All of the machines (including monitors, keyboards and mice) from the MRC are donated Macs that are reconditioned to make sure everything is working properly. We have a “master” hard drive that we clone (copy) so that all machines have the same set of software when they go out the door.
Since all these machines were PowerPC Macs (pre-Intel chip machines), the software is all optimized to work with OS 10.5.8 – the last OS version that works with PPC Macs.
Helping People is What We Do!
One of our favorite shots of Jim – here at a MacWorld Conference in NYC many years ago.
Always great to hear these kinds of stories that we can pass along to our Recyclemac readers.
This one comes from our own Jim Ritz – a long-time member of the MacRecycleClinic and the old Tuesday Night Crew at Washington Apple Pi when the club had a physical office in Rockville.
Jim writes:
Recently one of (MRC volunteer) Phil Marchetti’s clients said she had an old iMac that was of unknown status. She asked Phil if he could fix it and maybe she could pass it in to her handyman who couldn’t afford to buy a computer.
Phil said it worked but needed ram and who knows what else. Hearing the specs I knew we had ram of the type it needed. We increased the ram from 256 MB to 2.0 GB and installed the latest Mac OS that early Intel could handle and passed it on. The client gave MRC a donation as well.
This was a Win, Win, Win situation for all involved!
It is what MRC does.
Heading into August: Craigslist
We’ve finally made it to Craigslist – a great way to get a free message out there that MRC is alive and well. We’ve continued to meet weekly at Marvin Church and have been busy helping folks, recycling older Macs by tearing them down into their components and refurbishing Macs for donation or sale (yes, we do sell refurbished Macs).
Here’s the ad you can find on the Maryland Craigslist page – “All Services Listed” -> Computer Services.
Craigslist interface is still pretty basic but they do allow you to add photos and a map these days, which can make a huge difference.
An Update and Look Forward to the Summer
Once 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.
Recycling Memories: 2002
These early Bondi iMacs were refurbished by the old Washington Apple Pi "Tuesday Night Crew" that is now MacRecycleClinic. They all went to good homes. Note the G4 towers providing support!
As I have time – I will reprint some articles about recycling that I (or others in what is now the MacRecycleClinic group) wrote about our efforts over the years to refurbish and return Macs back into the community. I’m doing this not only to preserve the articles but to show just how far back MRC and our old Washington Apple Pi Tuesday Night Crew goes – how our efforts to recycle have gone back to Apple II days in fact. I’ll add photos as well when possible.
Note that in 2012 MCPS – Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools – basically only supports PCs these days. That said, MRC has had luck working with school counselors and PTSAs to get computers to students and families that don’t have computers. If you have a group that is trying to recycle computers, be sure to check and see what your local school district will – or won’t – accept. But there are many non-profits, students and families who would appreciate a refurbished computer. I just read the newspaper, work with local churches and school groups and never have a problem finding someone who could use a recycled Macintosh.
MacRecycleClinic – A Busy Time for Mac Recycling
The Monday Clinic is always busy these days.
It’s been awhile but I wanted to bring all our readers and supporters up-to-date on how things are going at the MacRecycleClinic. As you’ve read in past blog posts, it took about two years for the MRC to move from being a part of Washington Apple Pi to become a 501(c)3 non-profit and to find a new home.
Our space at Marvin Memorial United Methodist Church is already crowded but has become perfect for our needs. We have workspace for our donations and to refurbish computers that will ultimately find their way back into the community. We have a “clinic space” in Room 204 at Marvin where we hold our Monday clinics. And we have taken some space downstairs at the church to create a storage space and more importantly – a Mac Lab for use by students from Blair High School and the community. It should be ready to go on-line soon.
I’ll have to say it took awhile for folks to learn that we were “back in business” but I’m thrilled to report that most Mondays we are busy – a good thing! We want to help Mac owners get the most out of their machines – whether it means replacing or repairing a hard drive, adding memory, installing software or just doing some troubleshooting.
But our bread and butter is taking newer PowerPC G4 and G5 computers (and hopefully Intels soon), refurbishing them and then returning them back to the community. We continue to take donations and have worked out an agreement with Montgomery County to scavenge Macs that have been sent for recycling to the Shady Grove Transfer Station.
In just the past few months we’ve reached out to a number of Washington Area groups, as well as Blair and Northwood High Schools. We have given computers to families and students and we are starting to get more calls for donations as well. In all cases we look for referrals from organizations – non profits, schools and other groups are in the best situation to know who would benefit most from a computer. In all cases, we are happy to work with these groups and get these computers out the door. In some cases we can also provide a printer – though basic printers these days are very inexpensive (and you can find them at Goodwill and other thrift stores).
If your organization would be interested in creating a Macintosh Lab we can also likely help with that so please let us know. All our contact information is right here on recyclmac or you can go to our MacRecycleClinic home page for more information.
MacRecycleClinic is a small non profit trying to help the ecology by recycling Macintosh computers. For companies like Apple, this kind of effort should be welcomed (they do have their own recycling program in fact) because a student who uses a Mac now could well become a customer in the future. And everything we can do to keep these machines serving productive lives for a few more years is a worthwhile endeavor. These machines can surf the web, send and receive email and help find jobs, fill out resumes and create term papers. We do appreciate your support as we work on this effort – something our members have felt passionate about for decades.
Maryland Recycles Website – Worth the Visit
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.”
MacRecycleClinic Photos
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