About Us

About Free Geek

Mission Statement:

Free Geek is a nonprofit community organization that reduces the environmental impact of waste electronics by reusing and recycling donated technology. Through community engagement we provide education, job skills training, Internet access and free or low cost computers to the public.

We are one of a dozen autonomous Free Geek organizations located throughout the U.S. and Canada. The original Free Geek was founded in Portland, OR, in 2000.

Our Principles

We provide a place for people to share technology in a way that is environmentally sensitive and socially progressive. We believe in transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

Reducing environmental impact of e-waste

We dispose of equipment in an ethical and environmentally responsible manner. We're a reuse and recycling centre, and a large part of our mission is environmental.

Reuse is the most desirable fate for old electronics. Finding a new home for an existing piece of technology generally requires less energy and produces fewer pollutants than any method of recycling.

Recycling regionally and ethically is the next-best fate for old electronics. We recycle as locally as possible to minimize transportation, and so that we can build relationships with recyclers and have confidence in their methods. We prefer to recycle in British Columbia when we can, but will use other Canadian and American recyclers when we must.

In accordance with the Basel Convention, we absolutely refuse to send materials to non-OECD countries.

We are a member of the Basel Action Network Pledge Program, and as such, are held to the highest standards of electronics recycling.

Free and Open Source Software

We use free and open source software wherever possible, and promote the free software philosophy in other ways, such as transparent collaboration with others. The free software philosophy, with its emphasis on mutual assistance and freedom, is important to what we are; all of our software, documentation, and policies are open to whoever wants to avoid reinventing the wheels we've made.

We provide low- and no-cost computer technology and training to our community. We believe that empowering people is an essential part of equipping them. Rather than just dropping free hardware on folks, we want to educate them, and facilitate their self-sufficiency. We also want to involve them in creating a community where they can circulate their knowledge and empower others.

Transparent, Consensus-based Organization

At Free Geek, we encourage active participation from everywhere within the organization, whether it is from a volunteer, and paid member of staff, or a member of the board of directors. All of our meetings use a consensus-based decision-making process, and all of the resulting meeting minutes are available for anyone to review, along with all of our other organizational materials, on our public wiki.

We are a non-profit society registered in British Columbia, on Dec. 6, 2006.

In the media

Appearance on “Tech Talk/Get Connected” (Season 8 Episode 10). See the video here.

Jessica Ellington, Leah Karpus, and Elizabeth Quan. “Dangers of electronic waste cannot be ignored any longer” Georgia Straight, March 8, 2011.

Sherlock, Tracy. “Meet Eddie: the evil destroyer of delicate internal electronics” The Vancouver Sun, Dec 28, 2010.

Matt Kieltyka, “Old computers are new again” 24 Hours Vancouver, Jun. 21, 2010.

Kiran A. Massey, Jordan Eunson, “Electronic Wastelands: Decomposing Computers and Communities Around the World” UBC Medical Journal, Volume 2, Issue 1.

Cheryl Rossi, “Giving Geeks” Vancouver Courier, Dec. 10, 2009.

Cheryl Rossi, “Credit union helps Free Geeks recycle, refurbish computers” Vancouver Courier, Sep. 11, 2009.

Kevin Chong, “Your electronics don't have to become e-waste” Georgia Straight, Sept. 4, 2008.

CBC TV's The National featured us in their piece entitled “Green Sweep” on May 20, 2008.

Bruce Byfield, “FOSS helps Free Geek Vancouver become an ethical recycler,” Linux.com, May 23, 2008.

Appearance on “Tech Talk/Get Connected” (Season 2, Episode 3). See the video here.

Alder, Reanna. “Free Geek, Making Old Computers New Again” Tooth and Dagger, May 15, 2007.

Cruz, Herb. “Free Geek Vancouver - Community Technology Centre” Vancouver Metblogs, Mar 27, 2007.

“Free Geek for your computer disposal” Savvy Insider, May 2, 2007.