Why throw away your old computer?  Even a 300 MHz can be installed with a decent operating system and run many low-processor intensive games for kids. It can service your network. Become a location to store backups of your information. Lots of uses.

It can be donated to a school, a senior center, etc.  Why toss it? Especially after paid so much for it?

Companies will even take them in trade. Sell your old computer and get credit towards a new computer. [1]

Certainly, putting it in the trash where mercury, lead, and other toxic chemicals enter the ecosystem is not very good. I am not a green, but even I have some sense.

I do have lots of computers around. My mom got back her 8088. I still have my 486 SX/DX (25 MHz) which is dead, my 66 MHz Pentium I, a 166 MHz a friend gave me also dead, and a 233 MHz my mom gave me. Of course, I went from the 233 MHz to a 1.4 GHz. WTF?

One of these days, I am going to drop a light-weight Unix operating system on the 233 and a big drive. I will store data there.

1. What to Do With That Old, Slow PC
2. E-Waste: Dark Side of Digital Age