Laura Zurowski is one of the moderators of the Dutchess chapter of Freecycle, an online exchange of free used merchandise.

She said if there is a little life in an electronic item, people could try to pass it along to someone else rather than sending it to a recycling facility.

She said about a quarter of the messages offering merchandise for reuse deal with computers, monitors, printers, faxes, DVD player and TVs.

“Some people people use Freecycle to look for parts for computers,” Zurowski said in an e-mail message.

“It’s not as convenient as simply dropping the item off at a recycling center,” she said, “but I think there’s a greater satisfaction knowing that your equipment is being used and enjoyed by another person.”

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