Receiving Boxes

All About Receiving Boxes

Receiving Box Numbers

Audio/Visual Box 26

AV Box Sign

AV "Wants" Chart Page 1

AV "Wants" Chart Page 2

AV "Doesn't Want"Chart

• Contents
  • Smaller A/V Items
  • Portable CD Players
  • Portable DVD Players
  • Portland Tape Players
  • XM Radios and Car Stereos
  • Microphones
  • New Antennas w/ coaxal connectors

• Notes:
  • Take larger items to Audio/Visual Incoming (see map).
  • Consult the wants/don't wants chart and the A/V Triage for A/V questions.

• When full, box should be brought to Audio/Visual Incoming (the A/V Cart).

Advanced Testing Box 14

• Contents:
  • DVD Drives
  • CD Drives (Only High Speed and Ultra Speed)
  • External DVD & CD-RW Drives
  • High Temp Lubricants
  • Thermal Grease
  • Zip Drives (Only w/USB)

• When full, take to Advanced Testing Incoming (see map). Sort out the optical drives and put them in the "Incoming Optical Drives" Box. Leave the rest of the box in Advanced Testing Incoming.
• If you have questions about whether A/T will test an item not listed here, ask the instructor on duty in the area.

Advanced Recycling

‎AdvancedRecyclingSign

• Contents:
  • Glass
  • LEDs
  • LCDs (over 4 inches and not from laptops)
  • Light Bulbs

• When full, carefully take to Advanced Recycling Incoming.

• Contents:
  • DVD Drives
  • CD Drives (Only High Speed and Ultra Speed)
  • External DVD & CD-RW Drives
  • High Temp Lubricants
  • Thermal Grease
  • Zip Drives (Only w/USB)

• When full, take to Advanced Testing Incoming (see map).
• If you have questions about whether A/T will test an item not listed here, ask the instructor on duty in the area.

Anti-Static Bags

Anti Static Bags

• Contents:
  • Anti Static Bags
• Notes:
  • Store people generally come in every morning and grab what they need.
  • If the box gets to be unmanageably full, check with Recycling and A/T to see if they need any. The rest can get tossed in the dumpster outside of the warehouse (unless you can think of a cool art project for them).

Batteries Box 32

Batteries Sign

• Contents:
  • Batteries from devices we receive.
  • FreeGeek does not accept loose batteries. If someone wants to donate loose batteries, direct them to the donations desk where they can pick up an "Other Recyclers" flier which will say where to recycle batteries.

• Cell phone batteries go in Cell Phone Accessories.
• Laptop batteries go in Laptop Accessories.
• No light ballasts.
• When full, test Alkaline and Lithium Batteries. Use the voltmeter above the tools in receiving. Take good batteries to the Store in a bag and sorted bad batteries to Recycling Check-In (see map).

Cards/Mobos Box 15

Cards And Motherboards Sign

• Contents:
  • Cards and motherboards

• When full, put them under the lesson boxes on the shelving unit near Hardware ID.

Cassette Tapes

• Contents:
  • Video and Audio Cassette Tapes.

• When full, bring to the shelves in the warehouse near the Recycling Work Table.

CDs Box 37

CD Box Sign

• Contents:
  • CDs only. No cases.

• Use the CD shredder (if available) to destroy data from burnt CDs.
• If the CD shredder is not available, make the CD unreadable in a safe and effective manner. Do not cut the CD as this can produce "shrapnels". Scratching only the back of the CD is not effective.
• We don't save software CDs as we cannot resell them due to copyright issues.
• All game CDs go in the game box. CDs with good music can be saved for receiving.
• Movies can be saved for testing purposes and also go to the store. Ask staff member where to put them.
• CDs are shipped to a recycling vendor, hence they need to go into a shippable box.
• When full, make sure there are only CDs in the box and no cases. Put CDs into a box with a lid. Place them near the Recycling Work Table (see map).

Cell Phone Accessories Box 22

Cell Phone Accessories Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Cell Phone Batteries
  • Cell Phone Wall Chargers
  • Cell Phone Car Chargers

• No:
  • Cell Phones (they go in Cell Phone Accessories)

• Notes:
  • Rubberband all cords.

• When full, let E-Beth know. E-Beth will come up and sort through the box, letting us know which ones we should recycle and which ones need to be rubberbanded again.

Copper Bearing Material Box 33 and Box 34

CBM Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Electronics with mixed metal and plastic
  • Old drives: floppy, zip (w/o USB), CD-ROM (not High Speed or Ultra Speed)
  • Mice (to be recycled)
  • Phones (to be recycled) but not cell phones (lock box).
  • Orphaned remotes
  • Speakers (to be recycled) but not if they have wood paneling (deconstruction).
  • A/V items to be recycled
  • Old calculators
  • Etc.

• No:
  • Harddrives
  • Batteries
  • Cords

• Clip cords from mice and other items before putting the item into CBM.
• Check for batteries. When removing the batteries from an item which has a battery compartment (e.g. remotes or cordless handsets), remove the battery compartment cover and put it in E-plastic. This saves the recycling staff time, as they can pick up an item and see that the batteries are gone without having to open up the compartment.
• Depending on how much work Recycling has, recycling staff may choose to further deconstruct some of the electronic items we put in the CBM box. Or they just may want to CBM everything. Putting it all into the CBM bin gives the Recycling staff the ability to make that choice.

• When full, CHECK FOR HARD DRIVES. Take out any batteries (check inside devices), Ultra or High Speed CD-ROM Drives, DVD, or DVD-RW. Make sure there are no cords in the boxes. Bring the box to the Recycling Warehouse and set down in front of the CBM gaylord. Do not dump the box into the gaylord; recycling staff will sort through the box before it is dumped into the gaylord.

Danger Cart (Cords To Be Recycled)

Danger Cart Sign

• Contents:
  • Cords to be recycled

• When full, take to the warehouse and empty cart into the Cords Gaylord (In front of the recycling bench, it is the furthest on the left).

Deconstruction Box 28

Deconstruction Sign

• Contents:
  • Strange items with mixed metal and and plastic that can be easily separated.
  • Speakers with wood panels.
  • Examples: monitor bases, other stuff?

• In order to prevent the deconstruction pallet from overflowing, anything with electronics goes in CBM, not deconstruction. The only exception to this are speakers with wood panels.
• Deconstruct ring binders in receiving.
• When full, take to the warehouse and and set near the deconstruction pallet (see map). Recycling staff will sort through the bin before it is put on the deconstruction pallet.

Dirty Plastic

Dirty Plastic Sign

• Contents:
  • Hard plastics that are not from electronics
  • Plastics as flimsy as those that come from a DVD envelope (see example posted in Receiving).

• When full, sort out filmy plastic, E-Plastic, and anything else that isn't dirty plastic. Take the box to the Recycling warehouse and set it near the Dirty Plastic gaylord (see map). Do not dump the box into the gaylord; recycling staff will sort through the bin before it is put in the gaylord.

DVI Box 8

DVI Cables Sign

• When full, sort through to make sure there is only DVI cables. Check with the store to see if they need any. If not, leave the full box as is and auto-recycle all incoming DVI cables (until there is room in the box for more).

E-Plastic Box 27

E-Plastic Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Thermoplastics, i.e. plastics from electronics.
  • The plastic will usually have one of these labels:>ABS< (Acrylonitrile butadienestyrene), >HIPS< (High Impact Polystyrene), >PS<(Polystyrene).

• No metal!
• If you an unsure about something e-plastic and it does not have one of the above labels, put it in Dirty Plastic.
• What happens to E-Plastic?
• When full, make sure there is no metal on any of the plastic. Take to the warehouse and set near the E-Plastic gaylord. Do not dump in the gaylord; recycling staff will sort through the box before it is dumped in the gaylord.

Ethernet Box 4

Ethernet Cables Sign

• Contents:
  • All ethernet cables.
• Notes:
  • Do not have volunteers sort the cables as they are putting them into the box. This creates too much confusion, particularly when we are busy. Instead, have volunteers sort the box when we are slow.
  • When we sort the box, we leave some cables in the box in case there is a grant which needs cords or there is internal need for cords.
• When full, sort through the box using the following criteria:
  • Send all CAT 6 cords to the store.
  • Send all cords that are 10 feet or over to the store.
  • After you have sorted out the cords which are 10 feet or over, recycle all unlabeled cords and all cords less than or equal to CAT 5.
  • Put the CAT 5e cords back in the box. If the box is still over half full, recycle enough of the CAT 5e cords so that it is half full.

Fans/Heat Sinks Box 18

Fans and Heat Sinks Box Signs

• Contents:
  • Computer fans
  • Computer heat sinks

• When full, take to the Advanced Testing Incoming shelves (see map).
• Fans and heat sinks are tested by A/T. Good ones are reused in the build program or sold in the thrift store.

Figure 8 and Mickey Mouse Cables Box 6

Figure 8 and Mickey Mouse Sign

• When full, When full, check with the Store and Laptops to see what if they need any. If not, keep them in there as storage. Auto-recycle all incoming Figure 8 and Mickey Mouse Cables until the Store and Laptops needs more.

Filmy Plastic

Filmy Plastic

• Contents:
  • Filmy plastic

• When full, separate out any Anti-Static Bags (the silver ones). Plastic bags with handles can go to the store. The rest of the plastic can be bagged up with a bag from the Supplies Closet and taken to the warehouse near the Styrofoam (see map).

Firewire Box 3

Firewire Sign

• When full, sort out the true firewire cables and send them to the store. If the store does not need them, keep them there as "back up" and recycle all incoming firewire cables until the store needs some.

Floppy Disks Box 35

Floppy Disk Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Only 3.5 inch floppy disks.

• • No zip disks, no 5.25 inch floppies, etc.
• When full, check to make sure that there are no zip disks or other misplaced objects. Zip disks go in the Zip Disk Box. Bring to the warehouse near the Recycling Work Table.
• Floppy disks are disassembled at the Recycling Work Table.

Games Box 25

Games Box Sign

• Contents:
  • All game systems--even ones with hard drives. (Play Stations, X-Boxes, etc.)
  • Joy Sticks
  • Controllers
  • Game CDs and Cartridges
  • Anything related to computer or personal gaming systems.

• When full, take to the Classic Gaming Library. Set it outside the door if the door to CGL is locked, which it usually is.

Gloves Box

Gloves Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Gloves of various sizes for volunteer and staff use.

• Notes:
  • Gloves should always be worn when handling dangerous (e.g. poisonous, sharp, etc) objects, when sorting batteries, when taking apart floppies, when digging through gross or dirty donations, and at any time when common sense would make them seem appropriate. Gloves can also help with lifting as they improve your grip. Volunteers should be shown where the gloves are and invited to wear a pair if they so desire during the initial receiving orientation.

Head Phones

• Untangle and bind up cords with rubber band. Then take them to the Monkey House for Liane.

Jewel Cases Box 38

Jewel Cases Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Only CD cases.

• All paper must be removed from cases.
• Jewel cases are shipped to a recycling vendor, hence they need to be in a shippable box.
• When full, Make sure paper has been removed. Place cases into a box with a lid. Then put them next to the Recycling Work Table in the warehouse (see map).

Laptop Accessories Box 20

Laptop Accessories Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Laptop Drives
  • Laptop Power Supplies
  • Laptop Cards
  • Laptop Screens
  • Other things laptop related

• No:
  • Laptops--these are locked up in the rolling cart.
  • Laptop Docks
  • Printer power cords
  • Mac Laptop cords--they go to MacLand.

• Notes:
  • Rubberband the cords up nicely.
  • Separate the figure-eight and mickey mouse cables from the power supplies and put them into the figure-eight and mickey mouse cable box.

• When full, check to make sure cords have been nicely wrapped and take to Laptops.

Laptop Docks

• When full, take to Laptops.

Lock Box

• Contents:
  • Cell phones
  • PDAs
  • Digital Cameras
  • MP3 Players
  • USB Flash Drives
  • Phone SIM Cards
  • Anything small which stores personal data

• No:
  • Harddrives. These go to the green plastic tray in system evaluation.

At the end of each day, empty the lock box into the box in TARDIS labeled Lock Box Incoming.

Mac Incoming

Mac Incoming Box Sign

• Contents:
  • All Mac Accessories (anything with an Apple Logo that is NOT a system)
  • Mac Keyboards and Mice that cannot be tested because are too old

• No:
  • Newer Mac Keyboards and Mice (they go to Keyboard and Mice testing, respectively)

MacLand

• Contents:
  • All Apple Systems with build-in Monitor, i.e. System with CRT (Mac), System with LCD (Mac)

• No:
  • Mac Laptops (Lock them up!)
  • Mac Monitors (they go to mac eval)
  • Mac Systems (they go to mac eval or to system eval)
  • Ipods (they go to the lock box)
  • Ipod Accessories (they go to PDA and Digital Camera Accessories)

Magnetic Metals Box 29

Magnetic Metals Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Magnetic metals (test on the magnets on the posts)
  • Mouse balls (these include enough steel to be recycled as magnetic metal)

• When full, empty box into the steel cart in the warehouse between the gaylords.

Mouse Pads

• Contents:
  • Non-gross Mouse Pads (the gross ones can be thrown away!)

• When full, other areas come and pull from this box. If the box is overflowing, first see if build or adoption needs any. Then, send the fancy ones to the store. Then, throw away the less desirable ones until the box is no longer overflowing. Don't throw away all of the mouse pads in case an area may need them before we receive more.

Network Devices Box 16

Network Devices Sign

• Contents
  • Routers
  • Modems
  • USB Hubs
  • KVM Cables
  • KVM Switches

• Include the power adapter, if there is one.
• When full, bring to Advanced Testing Incoming and put contents into incoming Network Devices Box.

Non-Magnetic Metals Box 30

Non-Magnetic Metals Box Sign (print on white paper)

• Take them to the warehouse and find a staff member at Recycling Check-In (see map).

Office Supplies

Office Supplies Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Office supplies that we can use at Free Geek or give away to Schoolhouse Supplies or SCRAP.

• When full, Valerie empties the box.

Online Sales Box 23

Online Sales Box Sign

Online Sales "Wants" Chart

• Contents
  • Clicky keyboards
  • Trackball mice
  • Antique electronics
  • Tools and batteries/accessories for tools
  • Full sets of multi line phone systems

• Notes:
  • Check Online Sales in Receiving for more information
  • Keep in original packaging and shrink wrap
  • Put in “?” Box if in doubt (and ask Santiago about it later)

• When full, Place box on shelves or pile on the opposite side of the hallway from Mac Incoming.

Other Disks

Other Disks Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Plastic Data Cartridges (They Look Like Big Tapes)
  • Metal Backed Data Cartridges
  • Other strange and evil data storage devices

• When full, take them to the Advanced Recycling Incoming shelves (see map).

Packing Materials

Packing Materials Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Foam
  • Bubble Wrap
  • Other reusable packing materials

• When full, sort out what can be reused and what cannot. Bring the box of what can be reused to Santiago in Tardis. Throw out what cannot be reused.

PDA/Digital Camera Accessories

PDA/Digital Camera Accessories Box Sign

• Contents:
  • PDA Accessories
  • Digital Camera Accessories
  • Web Cams
  • Battery Chargers

• No:
  • PDAs--LOCKBOX!
  • Digital Cameras--LOCKBOX!

• This box is emptied by long-term volunteer Tom McCall who tests these items.

Power Cables Box 11

Power Cord Sign

• When full, sort out the unwrapped and "dirtier" ones. Put those into the danger cart. All others (wrapped and new looking) can be taken to the store. If the store does not need any, they can be left in the box for outgoing grants.

Power Supplies Box 17

Power Supplies Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Power Supplies

• Power supplies get tested in system evaluation. The good ones are reused through the build program or sold in the thrift store. The bad ones are disassembled in recycling.
• When full, bring them to System Evaluation, to the left of the systems stack.

Printer Accessories Box 31

Printer Accessories Box Sign

Printerland "Wants" and "Doesn't Want" Chart

• Contents:
  • Printer Ink
  • Printer Toner
  • Printer trays and power supplies which have become separated from their printers.

• Printer toner is poisonous if inhaled.

• When full, take to Printer Land.

Processors Box 13

Processors Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Socket based and slot based processors

• If possible, do not put socket based processors in this box. Instead, walk all socket-based processors to Advanced Testing Incoming.
• Do not put processors in CBM even if they are very old and AT will not want to reuse them. Processors are recycled separately from other parts so that the gold can be extracted from them.

• When full, take to Advanced Testing incoming shelves and put in the "Incoming CPUs" Box.

Question Mark ("?")Box

Question Mark Box Sign‎

• Contents:
  • Items that staff cannot identify or do not know what to do with.
• Notes:
  • Before putting the item in the question mark box, make sure that it is not immediately dangerous and that it is does not contain personal data. When in doubt about whether something contains personal data, error on the side of caution: lock it up!
  • Volunteers should not be trained to put items directly into the question mark box. Instead, have them ask a staff member first.
• When full, empty it, doing the best you can to figure out what the items are and where they should go. Santiago, Sergio, Tony, etc. are good people to ask.

RCA Box 7

RCA Cables Sign

• When full,....

Ribbon Cables Box 1

Ribbon Cables Box Sign

• Remove any cables with steel plaques screwed onto the IDC connector (these go to the Deconstruction Box). Take Ribbon Cables to the Ribbon Cable Gaylord in the warehouse by CBM and Thin Colored Wire.

Rubberbands Box

Rubberbands Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Rubberbands for use in receiving.

Special Requests Box

• Contents:
  • Items requested on the special request board.
• When full, sort the items out and send them to whoever requested them.

Store Box 19

Store "Doesn't Want" Chart

Store Box Sign

• When full, Bring box to the Store through the door by AV Testing. Set it on the shelf beneath the “All Incoming” sign.

Styrofoam

Styrofoam Box Sign

• Contents
  • Styrofoam

• We do NOT accept styrofoam. The only styrofoam that comes into receiving is accidentally taken in during donations. When a donor brings a large item in a box, if possible, open the box while they are still there and check for styrofoam. If there is styrofoam, ask the donor to take the styrofoam with them. Thank them profusely when they agree. Remember: people put their stuff in the original packaging as a favor to us. Tell the donor that they can get a flyer at the donations desk which will tel them where they can take styrofoam for recycling.

• When full,break up the Styrofoam inside of a big black trash bag from the filing cabinet behind the donor desk. Then take it to the warehouse and toss it up on the Styrofoam shelf (see map).

Tally Sheets

Tally Sheets Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Tally slips for receiving
  • Currently stores "Uncovered" stickers as well, those these should probably have their own home.
• Notes:
  • Tally slips are printed and cut in half at the donor desk. Check when starting your shift to see if you have enough tally slips. If not, alert the donor desk so that they can get some more ready for you. Also check to make sure that you have enough uncovered stickers. Uncovered stickers have to be printed to dazzle as they are green, and you have to find someone who knows how to print stickers. Directions for printing stickers can currently be found taped up on the wall on the computer in the library.

Thin Colored Wire Box 2

Thin Colored Wire Sign

• Take to the warehouse and empty box into the Thin Colored Wire Gaylord.

Unsorted Memory Box 12

• Contents
  • Memory or RAM
• When Fullbring memory to Advanced Testing Incoming shelf. Place in "Incoming RAM" box.

USB Cables Box 5

USB Cables Sign

• When full, sort out the USB cords making sure that all the correct "kinds" are in there (according to the cable chart). Check with the store to see if they need any. If they do not, leave them there while auto-recycling all incoming USB cords until more is needed.

VGA Cables Box 9

VGA Cables Sign

• When full,sort through to make sure there is only VGA cables. Check with the store to see if they need any. If not, leave the full box as is and auto-recycle all incoming VGA cables (until there is room in the box for more).

Wall Warts Box 10

Wall Warts Sign

• Bring to Advanced Testing Incoming.
• Notes:
  • Rubberband the cords up nicely.

Wireless Mice/Keyboards Box 24

Wireless Keyboards and Mice Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Wireless Mice
  • Wireless Keyboards
  • Wireless Receivers

• When full, bring to Advanced Testing Incoming.

Zip Disks

Zip Disks Box Sign

• Contents:
  • Zip Disks