"We can't afford twenty new laptops"

The Refurbished Advantage

Buying new computers for a community center is expensive. A single laptop can cost €500-1000. Multiply that by twenty machines, and you're looking at a budget that most community projects simply don't have.

But here's the thing: companies and institutions replace their computers every 3-5 years — not because the machines stop working, but because IT policies mandate upgrades. Those "old" laptops? They're perfectly capable of running a modern operating system, browsing the web, editing documents, and learning to code.

Refurbished computers are:

• Economically sustainable — 20-50% the cost of equivalent new machines or even free
• Environmentally sustainable — Extends device lifespan, delays e-waste, maximizes the emissions already embedded in manufacturing
• Functionally adequate — A 5-year-old business laptop often outperforms a brand-new budget machine

Organizations like Labdoo and eReuse specialize in collecting corporate donations, refurbishing them, and redistributing them to communities in need. This circular economy approach transforms waste into opportunity.

Acquiring Computers

You start making calls. A local company is upgrading their fleet — they have 20 laptops they were about to recycle. An NGO offers to facilitate the donation. Within a few weeks, boxes arrive at the community center.

You open the first box. HP ProBooks. Lenovo ThinkPads. Some have stickers from their previous life, corporate asset tags still attached. They're dusty, some have worn keyboards, but they power on. They work.

Now comes the question: how do you know what you actually have?

Next step:

• What do we actually have? →