Help save the ACCRC

James Burgett of ACCRC’s skull of junked electronics (photo via Dale Dougherty)

The Alameda County Computer Resource Center could really use your help, as Dale writes on boingboing:

ACCRC is in desperate straits. The Bay Area electronics recycler is going through tough times with an emergency re-org and a lack of funds to pay taxes and healthcare for its employees. Its own internal problems are compounded by a sudden drop in the price of scrap metal. ACCRC has been a friend to Make and Maker Faire, and generally anyone in the Bay Area who uses computers and electronics and wants to make sure they are recycled properly.

The good news about falling metal prices is that scrapyards who couldn’t be bothered to sell random bits of metal to Makers may now think otherwise. However, this is a scant silver lining when you consider the effect on recycling businesses that need sane metal prices to stay in business. We’re not talking a tiny drop here, either: prices on some metals have dropped 80% in the last 3 months.

Please consider donating to ACCRC here. They’re a charitable organization, so you might even be able to get your employer to match it!