Are You One of Those People? Funny Thing Most Texans Are

Are you one of those people, or better yet, will you admit it? It's kind of funny because over 70% of Texans are.

It was hard to look in the mirror and admit it, but here goes, I’m one of those people. And funny thing is, if you're a Texan, chances are you are too.
I didn’t want to believe it. In fact, I got angry with myself and asked:
"How did I become this kind of person?"

Well, let’s find out.

Signs You Might Be a Tech-Junk Junkie

Want to know if you're a tech-hoarder like me?
Just look around.
Is there a box by your nightstand? A crate under the bed? A stack of containers in your closet full of cords, old phones, or mystery gadgets from 2005?

Yep. Guilty as charged.

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I had to admit it. I’m a Tech-Junk Junkie. I’m not addicted to alcohol or drugs, no, no. I’m hooked on holding onto tech trash I haven’t touched in years. And apparently, I’m not alone.

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Texas Ranks High in Tech Hoarding

According to Secure Data Recovery, Texas is among the Top 30 states where people hang on to outdated tech gear the most. And if you're wondering what kind of junk we're talking about, here's just my list:

• Old hard drives
• Tech cords
• Keyboards
• Laptops
• Cell phones and chargers
• CD-ROMs
• Floppy disks
• Floppy disk readers
• Compact discs
• Random USB sticks (of unknown origin)

That was just one crate. I have 20.

What Should You Do With All That Tech Junk?

Here's the part I hit a wall on, what now? I didn’t want to throw it in the trash and risk polluting Texas landfills, but I also wasn’t sure where to start.

So I did some digging, and here's what I found:

• Recycle It
  Places like Best Buy, Staples, and the Abilene Environmental Recycling Center will take in most of your old tech safely.
• Donate It
  If it still works, donate to local schools or groups like TechSoup and Computers with Causes.
• Sell or Give It Away
  Believe it or not, people collect old tech. Try eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or vintage tech forums like Reddit’s r/retrobattlestations.
• Wipe Old Drives
  Use free software like DBAN, or take a drill to the hard drive before recycling.
• Use Mail-In Programs
  Try TerraCycle, Dell Reconnect, or manufacturer take-back programs

My Final Thoughts Here: You’re Not Alone, Texas

If you're a fellow Texan sitting on a pile of outdated cords and forgotten gadgets, you're not weird, you’re just human. But now you know what to do.

Time to tackle those crates.