With holiday gift shopping around the corner, and many organizations refreshing hardware for Windows 7, it’s a good time to ask: What to do with obsolete PCs displaced by the shiny and new?

Corporate systems too crummy or broken for even low-status users usually end up returned to the supplier for disposal, often for a hefty fee. It’s a similar story at home, where most castoffs await a curbside sendoff, increasingly for a $10 or $15 charge. Both sources contribute to the 50 million systems dumped annually, according to estimates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, creating tons of toxic waste and horrific pollution at crude burning centers in China and other poorer nations.  It’s a mess, and getting worse.     

Instead of simply chucking out that old Pentium 4 (or letting it languish in a closet, unused), why not donate it to a worthy cause? Specifically, a school, student or charity short on cash but long on need. There are plenty. Numerous local and national initiatives have sprung up over the last decade exactly for this purpose.  Two of the better ones:

National Cristina Foundation

For more than 25 years this pioneering nonprofit has provided donated computers and other technologies to charities, schools and public agencies in all 50 states and Canada, and in many countries around the world.

Computers for Youth  

The “Take IT Home” program provides at-home computers, software, reduced-cost Internet access, student and teacher training, and tech support to students and families in low-income middle schools. It accepts donations of 30 computers or more and is ideal for business contributions and volunteering. Also check them out here.

Help a kid, get a tax credit, stretch the useful lifespan of old PCs, slow pollution. Low tech, but smart.