Cross Electronic Recycling

I have been bringing old electronics to Cross Recycling for a few years but needed to buy a monitor for a work-from-home project. Cross was the first place that popped into my head. They told me to take a picture of the computer ports & they would be able to match up what I needed. So that's what I did. A very cheerful young man pointed me to the shelf of monitors and told me any of these will work. So I picked one, paid around $40 for it, and he carried it to my car. Simple!

My husband and I had a growing pile of old phones and a laptop and did t want to throw them away. My mother-in-law told us about Cross Electronic Recycling. She was impressed that they not only recycle old electronics, they provide training and sell refurbished products. When I arrived, I didn't know which door to go in (for reference it's the side door). The staff was friendly and quick. I handed them my stack, said our thank you's and left.

Mom is cleaning out the house, which means we either have a ton of items going to Goodwill or the trash. When I saw she was going to take an old Tube TV to the dump, I had to intervene and take it to a recycle center. When I called, the woman on the phone was very nice and helpful. When I arrived, she was still helpful and knowledgeable about the process. Consistency=check! It is $20 to recycle an old tube tv that is UNDER 20inches. The bigger the tv, the more money it will cost. They do this because the place pays a license to break down the mercury in the tv. When we drop off the TVs, we are paying to help them pay for the expensive license. They have tons of old computers for $30 and old cords/charging cables to sell. They do not buy anything from donators because they are purely a nonprofit. For the service and the help, 5 Stars. If I rated the cleanliness inside the building, 1 star. It is pretty nast but we are just there to drop off our electronics. Did I want to pay when I could have put it in the trash? Not really. Do I feel better about my environment? Completely.

I don't want to say the clientele is worrying, but my initial reaction on walking in to the store was to wonder if I took a wrong turn and ended up at a parole office. I haven't seen so many sagging pants since high school. The store section is somewhat organized but lots of things are tossed into bins that may or may not even have a label. There was one poor young man running around lamenting that only he and 3 other people in the entire facility had any real technical knowledge. That might explain some of it.One of the staff walked me back so I could personally see that my old computer was put into recycling. On the way back I noticed a small room that listed out what kind of crimes you could be convicted of and still vote, and what local businesses were known to harbor felons. #YIKES!They also want to charge extra for CRT televisions and monitors (the old-fashioned kind) so I will have to disassemble my ancient 60 inch TV and dispose of it piece by piece each week. Not gonna be a fun time but I'm not paying $60 to throw away an old TV that doesn't even work.In the end this place is like a hospital. You might need to use it, but you won't like it, and it isn't a place to make friends.

They were very helpful--even helped me unload my things out of the car when I parked in the wrong place. Felt good about not just dumping this stuff into the garbage!