Donate your old computer to Labdoo : an easy way to contribute to education ! (◕‿◕✿)

Somewhere in a drawer, you probably have an old laptop that still works but that nobody uses anymore. For a school in a remote area, that same laptop, cleaned and loaded with educational software, can become a library, a science lab and a programming class. That is exactly what Labdoo does.

What is Labdoo?

Labdoo is a humanitarian social network created in 2010 and run by volunteers around the world. Its mission is to bring unused laptops, tablets and e-readers to schools in underserved regions, in developing countries but also in the developed world, without economic or environmental cost.

Three principles make it unique:

1. No money changes hands. Devices are donated, refurbished by volunteers and delivered for free.
2. No extra CO₂ for transport. Laptops travel in the luggage of people who are already going somewhere: tourists, business travellers, NGO staff.
3. Full traceability. Every device (a "dootronic") gets an ID and can be tracked on the platform, from donor to school, until it is recycled properly at the end of its life.

The journey of a laptop

1. Donation. You bring your old laptop to a Labdoo "hub", a local volunteer point, or ship it to one.
2. Sanitisation. Volunteers erase all your personal data securely. This step is important: your data is wiped before the device goes anywhere.
3. Installation. The laptop is loaded with a free Linux system and a large set of offline educational content.
4. Tagging. The device is registered on the platform with its own page.
5. Travel. A traveller ("dootrip") who goes near a school in need carries one or two laptops in their luggage.
6. Delivery and follow-up. The school receives the laptops and reports back. Old devices are recycled responsibly at the end of their life.

Free software at the heart of the project

Labdoo laptops run a Linux distribution (historically Edubuntu, the education flavour of Ubuntu, now a Labdoo-maintained Ubuntu-based image). Choosing free software is not a detail:

• No licence costs. Thousands of laptops can be equipped without paying for a single licence.
• Old hardware, new life. Lightweight Linux systems run well on computers that are ten years old.
• Offline content. Schools without a reliable connection get Wikipedia offline, Khan Academy videos, language courses, maths and science applications (GCompris, Scratch, Stellarium, LibreOffice, etc.).
• Knowledge to share. Students can study, modify and redistribute the software, which is the spirit of the four freedoms of free software.

How you can help

• Donate a device. Laptops, tablets and e-readers in working condition, with their charger. Find the closest hub on the Labdoo map.
• Become a traveller. Before your next holiday or business trip, check if there is a school near your destination and carry a laptop with you. It is a beautiful way to meet the local community.
• Volunteer as a hub. If you have some technical skills, you can sanitise and install laptops, or organise a collection in your company.
• Talk about it. Companies renew their IT equipment every three to five years; a single message to your IT department can turn a pallet of old laptops into a classroom.

The Labdoo website also has a great set of videos explaining each step.

Why it matters

Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world, while millions of students still have no access to a computer. Labdoo connects both problems with an elegant, decentralised and almost zero-cost solution powered by volunteers and open source software. Extending the life of a laptop is also the most effective way to reduce its environmental footprint.

Resources

• Labdoo.org
• Labdoo videos
• Edubuntu

If you like hands-on projects that teach how computers work, have a look at Kano, the computer kit for kids.