Not so long ago I had to get rid of nearly a dozen dead or obsolete PCs. I hated the thought of putting them in the trash. I was fortunate to run across a Native-American-owned recycler in my area (Federal Recyclers, Marietta, Georgia) who specializes in computers and hardware. They reclaim the metals and as much else as possible. NOTHING goes into a landfill. He is also supremely ethical in the matter of hard drives, cell phones, and the like; he makes sure that no personal information gets loose. Look around for someone equally green--they're out there. And take Mac's advice on destroying the drives. You'd be amazed at what can be recovered, even from a notionally formatted HD.

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."