[FreeGeek] old article, but cute

[ifny]

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/161951_freegeek25.html

Free Geek recycles computers -- for free
Oregon man wanted hazardous material out of landfills

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND -- Oso Martin had a dream -- collect old computers, teach
volunteers to fix them, give the good ones away to good causes and
make sure the rest are responsibly recycled.

He made that dream come true when he launched Free Geek on Earth Day 2000.

There were times, especially in the first year, when Free Geek almost
didn't get off the ground. Finding people willing to donate old
computers wasn't the problem. Paying for a place to store and
refurbish them was. At one point, Free Geek owed $12,000 in back rent.

Today, Free Geek not only is current on its rent, it has expanded its
space twice.

Even with its success, Free Geek continues to reflect Martin's
community values. Everything from furnishings to the toilet paper is
donated. Everyone is equal. The core staff -- 13 people, including
Martin -- earn the same pay.

"The receptionist makes the same amount of money as me, and I think
that's appropriate. Her job is just as hard as mine. It's just
different," says Martin, who earns about $17,000 a year.

In some ways, Free Geek is uniquely Oregon. But its power is moving
beyond Oregon, as people in other states are beginning to recognize
the work Martin has done.

Lately, Martin has been asked to help establish a Free Geek operation
in Lancaster County, Pa. Another guy e-mailed from South Bend, Ind.,
asking if he could use the name for his computer recycling operation.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are 315 million
obsolete computers, monitors and other peripherals in the country,
containing an estimated 1 billion pounds of lead, 2 billion pounds of
cadmium and 400,000 pounds of mercury. Almost everyone agrees that
these toxic materials should not be disposed in the country's
landfills, where they might leach into groundwater.

There's widespread disagreement, however, about how obsolete computers
should be handled and who should pay for it.

A private donor gave Martin enough money to start Free Geek. But the
organization won its big break when it received a $40,000 grant from
the state Department of Environmental Quality and the city of Portland
in 2001. Other public and private grant money has trickled in.

Then, Free Geek received $159,000 in the summer from the Meyer
Memorial Trust, a Portland-based foundation that supports a broad
spectrum of non-profit efforts in Oregon and Clark County, Wash.

Martin isn't stuck on any one interpretation of what Free Geek means.

"You're freeing your inner geek. You're becoming a geek for free. It's
about freedom and doing that in a geeky way," he says with a smile.

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