I'm clearing out a very small room at my parents' house in rural Ireland and have found boxes of old technology: an N64 missing its power cable, PlayStation 1 and 2 cables without the consoles, controllers, games, GameCube and PSP items, assorted unidentified cables, and many old phones, including Nokia and Motorola models. I may keep anything that is useful or valuable, but I don't have the parts needed to test most of it and I'm not particularly interested in making money. How should I sort or identify the items, and what is the best way to give away, recycle, or dispose of anything nobody wants? I'd prefer an environmentally responsible option rather than putting electronics in the regular rubbish. Are old cables worth separating for their metal content?
3 Answers
Start by making a few broad groups rather than identifying every cable immediately: consoles and games, phone chargers, video/audio cables, computer cables, and genuinely unknown items. Keep only things that belong to equipment you still own or are likely to use. Anything else can be offered as one clearly labelled mixed lot locally, donated to a charity or repair group, or taken to an electrical recycling facility. Old cables usually aren't worth stripping for the metal yourself; the time and effort normally outweigh the value.
You could give the potentially useful items one short deadline: take photos, post a list of the identifiable consoles, games, and cables as a free bundle, and say that the recipient must take everything. Don't spend days buying replacement power supplies just to test low-value items. Keep the N64 and any games you actually care about, then recycle the rest if nobody takes the bundle.
For Ireland, the environmentally responsible route is a local civic amenity site or electrical recycling collection. They generally accept waste electrical and electronic equipment, including old phones, chargers, consoles, and cables. Phone shops and electronics retailers may also accept phones or small electrical items for recycling, but it is best to check before making a trip. Remove batteries where practical and keep them separate, since loose batteries should not go into general waste.
That sounds more realistic than trying to identify every cable individually. I mainly want the room cleared quickly, so I'll keep the N64 and make one labelled bundle before taking the leftovers to an electrical recycling site.