Lexington, KY - The American consumer electronics industry is a giant pile of garbage. Well, strike that. The American consumer electronics industry produces several giant piles of garbage, tons and tons of it. In fact, according to EPA estimates, Americans threw away 157 million pieces of consumer electronics in 2007.
That's millions of iPods, Game Boys, computer monitors and laptops - all containing lead, mercury sulfur and other toxic chemicals - destined for far-off landfills. Sometimes these bits of technology are broken or malfunctioning, and sometimes they've been made obsolete by the latest and greatest. Either way, they're toast, and the pile of electronic waste - or "E-waste" - keeps growing.
"Everything built these days is throwaway," says Jason Collins, owner of the newly-opened Woodland Computers, located near the corner of East High Street and Woodland Avenue. The new store has an ambitious goal: create a new business model for computer sales and maintenance. With the tag line "Natural, organic technology," Woodland Computers hopes to reverse this throwaway trend. Instead of creating acres of E-waste, Collins wants to create computers that last 10 years.
Collins and John Darko, the manager and marketing guru, have only been in their Chevy Chase location since mid-June, but they're already making huge strides. Their business has two halves which reinforce each other - provide first-class personal computer service and diagnosis, and sell high-quality, brand-new machines. With their quirky owl mascot and decidedly green-chic image, the new store may just change the face of technology in central Lexington.
Collins and Darko are deliberately ripping off the bike shop mentality - where the customer can come in and chat with a knowledgeable and dedicated staff, eventually buy a computer and then come back and get it serviced later, all in the same location. The other obvious inspiration - at least as far as decor is concerned - is the corner coffee shop. The interior of the store is decorated in warm colors, with hardwood floors throughout and track lighting that illuminates rotating installations of artwork from local artists. Big, boxy computers sit by the doorway, inviting passers-by inside. Near the cash register, a chalkboard displays prices and bright paint chips, shiny and glossy like car paint, that customers can choose from to decorate their computer cases.
This is in complete contrast to the big box store model, and it's intentional in every way. At its heart, Collins and Darko's vision is all about being local. While their components may come from all over the world, the computers they sell are built locally right here in Chevy Chase by Collins and Darko in the back room of the their shop. And the other half of their business - computer repair - is location-centric as well. "If you live here in Chevy Chase," Darko says, "why not get your computer serviced here, too?"
"This is a totally different model of buying and using a computer," Collins says, and he knows. As an independent tech consultant for 10 years, he has dealt with a lot of equipment acquisitions and subsequent problems. "One thing I was dealing with constantly was the lack of quality of the computers we were dealing with," he says. Newer computers - even from the most popular manufacturers - started having higher failure rates, and many of his clients were more inclined to purchase new computers outright rather than repair the broken-down machines. That's a lot of E-waste.
"Computers have become so completely integrated into people's lives," Darko says. "So, they're so integral to your experiences, life, everything - but often the experience they provide is horrible." Things like spyware, viruses and equipment failures can really slow things down. That's why Woodland Computers offers free estimates on all repairs and tries to find a way to repair a single broken component instead of recommending a customer buy an entirely new machine.
"They want to create a model for as cheap as you can get it and let it last a few years and then throw it away," Collins said. Woodland Computers is different. Even if it means losing the margin from that big new computer sale, Collins and Darko want to do what's right for the customer and what's right for the environment.
Of course, the store does sell new computers, too. But remember the "natural, organic technology" motto. Aren't any computers - big boxes of plastic and metal and toxic chemicals - the very opposite of organic? Collins and Darko try to get their hands on the greenest parts possible, so you'll find zero heavy metals or toxic chemicals inside. Their computers have eco-friendly hard drives and processors, as well as power supplies that draw less electricity than the most popular computers.
This creates other benefits besides strictly environmental ones. Darko shows off a chunk of a plastic case from one computer the duo just serviced, which originally came from a leading big box manufacturer. "It's an inch thick, and it was right on top of the case," he says. Since plastic is such a poor conductor, the thick case acted as insulation and trapped the computer's heat inside. Eventually the power supply failed from all the strain. All the computers for sale at Woodland Computers have aluminum cases with ample ventilation grills and five internal fans. By choosing higher-quality components from the get-go, they hope to avoid ventilation issues in the future.
That quality-not-quantity mindset carries over to every aspect of their computer sales. Instead of including a cheapo keyboard and mouse with every computer, for example, Woodland Computers assumes that most customers already have a working set. (Woodland Computers still carries some high-quality keyboards and mice for customers who need them.) All the computers come with the latest version of the Ubuntu Linux operating system (see sidebar) at no additional charge.
While they already offer Earth-conscious recycling of unwanted computers, Collins and Darko also plan to soon sell gently-used parts (like hard drives and memory chips) from discarded computers at significant discounts, and with a 30-day warranty. They are also working with several area community organizations to assemble older but functional computers from discarded parts for community members to use. "It gives people something to do with their machines rather than just throw them away," Collins says.
"We want to cut down on the absolute disposability of mainstream electronics consumer culture," Darko says. It's a tall task, but when faced with those mountains of E-waste, it's a worthwhile one.
Woodland Computers if located at 507 East High St., across the street from the Ramsey's parking lot. The store is open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Visit them online at www.woodlandcomputers.org or give them a call at (859) 514-7738.