Recycle My Pi

[Missscompute]

Hello all,

On the Saturday of the Pi birthday weekend I did a talk about my experience with the new primary coding curriculum. I happened to (rather off handedly) say that I managed to get my school a set of Pis by tweeting (you don't ask, you don't get!). At the end of the talk someone asked how I could get assess to more Pis for other schools/ clubs and suggested creating a website called Recycle My Pi (I'm not sure who that was, I'm so sorry, I was a bit dazed!)

The idea behind the website would be for people to donate their old/ unloved Pis and for them to get distributed to schools and clubs that need them. What I want to know is how people would feel about donating their old equipment to help a school or club, I know that my school club has really made a difference and encouraged a lot of children to get their own Raspberry Pi and develop their skills. Also I wonder how teachers and club leaders feel about this idea.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome!
Hannah

[mattmiller]

Sounds like a great idea to find those Pi just languishing at the bottom of drawers

[Pithagoros]

I've given away loads of Pis to good causes, usually brand new unused ones, buy two and give one, I remember it was a good idea that was floated when Raspberry Pi first appeared but nothing came of it. I do like to feel sure its going to a useful cause though.

[ejolson]

Hello all,

On the Saturday of the Pi birthday weekend I did a talk about my experience with the new primary coding curriculum. I happened to (rather off handedly) say that I managed to get my school a set of Pis by tweeting (you don't ask, you don't get!). At the end of the talk someone asked how I could get assess to more Pis for other schools/ clubs and suggested creating a website called Recycle My Pi (I'm not sure who that was, I'm so sorry, I was a bit dazed!)

The idea behind the website would be for people to donate their old/ unloved Pis and for them to get distributed to schools and clubs that need them. What I want to know is how people would feel about donating their old equipment to help a school or club, I know that my school club has really made a difference and encouraged a lot of children to get their own Raspberry Pi and develop their skills. Also I wonder how teachers and club leaders feel about this idea.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome!
Hannah

As already mentioned an accounting system that could verify to which needy cause each Pi went would be essential. I think the project has a high chance of success because Raspberry Pi computers are small enough to cheaply send through the post. Thus, it would be possible to ask the donor to pay the postage. It would probably be a good idea to collect the unused Pis in a central location and test them before sending them out again. As the people who frequent this website are generally using their Pi computers (and loving them), it is difficult to know how to reach those people who bought one, fiddled with it for one night, didn't like it and then kept it in a drawer.

[mosespi]

If I had stuff to donate.. I would drive/walk it down to a reputable charity.. maybe just take it to a local school or the scout club, or an after school place... or give it to a youngster from a family of lesser means, maybe get involved in teaching them a bit.. you may just make a difference.

Not everything needs to have an app or a webpage.

Regards,
-Moses

[ejolson]

If I had stuff to donate.. I would drive/walk it down to a reputable charity.. maybe just take it to a local school or the scout club, or an after school place... or give it to a youngster from a family of lesser means, maybe get involved in teaching them a bit.. you may just make a difference.

Getting involved with teaching is a great idea. The targeted group of donors are those who buy a Pi, use it once and never use it again. Such people are unlikely to have the skills necessary for teaching someone else how to use it. Unless the Pi becomes a standard household item, a thrift store run by a general charity won't know what to do with one. In fact, such stores still have trouble with something so common as a used Windows PC. Therefore, I think the idea to create a reputable charity that has the expertise to refurbish and redistribute used Pi computers to an appropriate audience is a good one. In particular, such a charity could provide equipment to those who want to get involved with teaching but don't have their own stuff to donate.

[Missscompute]

Wonderful, seems to be a positive response so far. Part of my thinking is sending them with a lesson plan/ idea of where to start as well so that it doesn't feel like they were being thrown in the deep end. Now I just need to find the time to start this up! (Bring on the Easter holiday)

[ejolson]

Wonderful, seems to be a positive response so far. Part of my thinking is sending them with a lesson plan/ idea of where to start as well so that it doesn't feel like they were being thrown in the deep end. Now I just need to find the time to start this up! (Bring on the Easter holiday)

Any news on this project?

[W. H. Heydt]

I haven't donated any Pis (none of mine are "unloved"), but I have donated 17" to 19" monitors to schools my grandson was attending and I plan to do so again.

Edit to add... If I were to donate one or more Pis, I would want to include PSU and cables at the very least. To date, in direct experience, I have not found elementary teachers to have any particular technical skills. I'm sure the ones that post here are rather more capable, though.

[Missscompute]

Wonderful, seems to be a positive response so far. Part of my thinking is sending them with a lesson plan/ idea of where to start as well so that it doesn't feel like they were being thrown in the deep end. Now I just need to find the time to start this up! (Bring on the Easter holiday)

Any news on this project?

None yet, I'm still trying to work out logistics, can't really have them sent to my house (no one to collect them) which only leaves school. The other snag is do I get people to pay p&p to receive them and do I pay people to send them to me. Also need to work out how to manage who I send them to. I'm determined to set it but but it's taking a lot more organising than I thought it would!

[ejolson]

None yet, I'm still trying to work out logistics, can't really have them sent to my house (no one to collect them) which only leaves school. The other snag is do I get people to pay p&p to receive them and do I pay people to send them to me. Also need to work out how to manage who I send them to. I'm determined to set it but but it's taking a lot more organising than I thought it would!

People wanting to donate will already know a way to mail things from where they live. I would say that the person donating the Pi should pay postage, maybe even enough to mail it out again. Hopefully testing and packaging the Pi's for redistribution can be done by volunteers. Even so, there will be plenty of expenses. Maybe a grant or corporate donation can cover some of that.

Will you have an application form to determine who is eligible to receive a recycled Pi? Maybe it would be good to also get a commitment from each recipient of a recycled Pi to report back in a year how the Pi was used. That way you can put together an annual assessment and accountability report about what the organization has accomplished.

[blc]

None yet, I'm still trying to work out logistics, can't really have them sent to my house (no one to collect them) which only leaves school. The other snag is do I get people to pay p&p to receive them and do I pay people to send them to me. Also need to work out how to manage who I send them to. I'm determined to set it but but it's taking a lot more organising than I thought it would!

Have you thought about a PO Box? http://www.royalmail.com/business/servi ... ety/po-box It's a paid-for service, but a collection PO Box is only £23 (excl. VAT) per month and it would save you a lot of headaches regarding receiving packages. It gets cheaper if you buy in 6/12 month blocks.

[blc]

Apologies for the double-post...

I also agree that donators should be responsible for posting them in; they don't weigh much and they should be small enough to be classed as a letter rather than a parcel.

[ESP]

Hi,

I was very lucky to purchase over 250 Wyse winterms ( I needed 50 ) for £5 each. Hardly used and with keyboards and mice.

I tried to give away 100 to local schools and they simply did not understand them or they could not take second hand goods.....

Robin

[reddragon1nz]

I'm looking for 40 pick b+. Can anyone help me?

Kind regards.

Calvin.

[blc]

Did this ever go anywhere? I mentioned this in a message to the OP, but I'd be quite keen to help out with this.

[liz]

There are other charities looking out for your used Pis - check out https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/#computer-aid-connect for one of my personal favourites.

[blc]

There are other charities looking out for your used Pis - check out https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/#computer-aid-connect for one of my personal favourites.

That'll probably be why this thread is so quiet

[liz]

Absolutely not throwing any shade on the OP - this is a great idea - but I think it's quite easy to underestimate just how hard setting up a scheme like this can be, especially if you intend it to scale (and if you don't intend it to scale, what's the point?) Administering something like this is going to need staff, plant and logistics after a certain point; most individuals aren't set up to get all that sorted out, especially if they're already employed full time elsewhere! I'd hazard a guess that this is why the project has gone quiet.

[blc]

Absolutely not throwing any shade on the OP - this is a great idea - but I think it's quite easy to underestimate just how hard setting up a scheme like this can be, especially if you intend it to scale (and if you don't intend it to scale, what's the point?) Administering something like this is going to need staff, plant and logistics after a certain point; most individuals aren't set up to get all that sorted out, especially if they're already employed full time elsewhere! I'd hazard a guess that this is why the project has gone quiet.

That was kinda my point: given the resources involved you have to ask yourself how feasible/sustainable it's going to be, especially when there are other charities doing the same thing. As you say it doesn't detract from the fact that it's a good idea in the first place, but it's a lot for one person to manage.