Abtran Charity Club members. From left: Carine Diskin, Vicky Troy, Joana Godinho, Kirby Fleming, followed by Cork Simon Community's Katie Browne and Clare Leamy of GreenYourGoods.ie. Photographer: Patrick Slattery
Cork-based company Abtran has leveraged the services of fellow Rebel County IT recycling company GreenYourGoods.ie to donate €2,000 worth of used LCD screens, helping Cork Simon Community in the process.
Speaking today Barry Walsh, CEO of GreenYourGoods.ie, said that Abtran’s donation shows how companies can update their IT equipment while also finding an environmentally friendly way of getting rid of old equipment, ultimately helping a charitable cause.
Faced with a mini-mountain of used LCD screens, business process outsourcer Abtran, which itself currently employees over 1,000 staff across its multiple business sites, decided to help out Cork Simon Community, a charity for homeless people that it had already been working with for some years.
Katie Browne, corporate donations manager from Cork Simon Community, thought of GreenYourGoods.ie, a burgeoning Cork business that converts used electronic equipment into money for hard-pressed charities, so she helped Abtran get in touch with GreenYourGoods.ie.
“Once we heard that Abtran had a backlog of working LCD screens, we got the wheels in motion to find buyers from across Europe,” said Walsh. “There are many companies looking for lower priced working IT equipment.”
GreenYourGoods.ie worked with Abtran to raise €2,000 for Cork Simon Community, with Abtran donating used LCD screens, which GreenYourGoods.ie subsequently sold to a UK company to help raise the funds
With the help Gary Lucas from Abtran, GreenYourGoods.ie tested and sent over 170 LCD screens to a large company in the UK that, according to Walsh, was happy to get the equipment it wanted at a lower price than had it dealt with a retail agent.
“All in all, this type of donation makes a lot of sense: Cork Simon Community benefits by raising funds to help prevent homelessness in Cork, and Abtran benefits by getting rid of unused IT equipment in an environmentally friendly way,” he added.
Charities that work with GreenYourGoods.ie
GreenYourGoods is also working with charities such as St Vincent de Paul, Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Cork City Football Club. It recently helped Camara earn over €5,000 by turning donations of unused equipment into funds to help its cause.
Camara refurbishes computers and then loads them with educational software to help empower students’ education in disadvantaged areas in countries such as Ireland, Africa and Jamaica. It recently made headlines when it dispatched its 25,000th computer.
“Ultimately we’re trying to raise awareness in companies that they can get rid of their old equipment, and get some good CSR through this process,” said Walsh.
Any company that has a store of unused screens, printer cartridges, laptops, mobile phones and would like to raise some money and donate to a charity of its choice should contact GreenYourGoods.ie.
