With new technology entering the market at pace, one charity is giving old laptops a second life.
Recycle a Device, or RAD, connects those in need with digital devices. Bronwyn Scott from the charity says it’s a nationwide initiative.
“It gets laptops into the hands of people that need them most and we do that by diverting e-waste from landfill and teaching rangitahi or young people tech engineering skills to refurbish those laptops.”
A group of Te Aratai College students in Christchurch meet every week to take up that challenge.
Students say they enjoy doing it and that it feels “good to be helping people”.
Fifty groups across the country distribute the laptops including two librarians in Christchurch.
Amy Chiles says she knows first-hand what getting the devices means for people.
“Often when they come in they’re quite shy, they maybe have a bit of whakamā’ with the process – they might feel a bit bad about where they are at in their lives.”
Librarian Emilie Rogers agrees with her colleague.
“For the most part the devices that we give out are to families, it is their only device, they don’t have the financial capabilities to purchase multiple devices.”
Also a positive solution for the estimated near 100,000 tonnes of e-waste New Zealand disposes of annually.
Bronwyn Scott says the pandemic has only amplified the program’s worth.
“The digital divide in Aotearoa actually affects one million of us, so some people out there don’t have the skills to use a device if they don’t have a device to start with.”
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