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Don’t let your Fitbit collect dust — donate it

YMCA wants unused activity trackers for weight-loss program

A variety of fitness monitors are available on the market, with products by (from left) Fitbit, Jawbone, Fitbug, and Nike.Richard Drew/Associated Press/File 2013/Associated Press

Every step-tracking device comes with its honeymoon phase. Trying to figure out how the devices affect your health can be exciting, but after a while the infatuation may fade.

Lisa Gualtieri knows this experience firsthand. After learning that many step-trackers wind up collecting dust, the Tufts University professor and Fitbit user started RecycleHealth, a program to collect idle wearable activity trackers.

"Even in Portland, Ore., the recycling capital of the US, you can recycle wine corks. But there is no place to put Fitbits," Gualtieri said.

There are plenty of step-trackers that need new homes. Endeavor Partners, a Cambridge tech-consulting firm, reported last year that a third of all owners of activity trackers quit using the devices within six months.

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Once rejected, they might sit in a sock drawer to avoid serving as a constant reminder that the owner is no longer walking thousands of steps a day. Most people consider them too costly to toss in the trash, and environmental advocates warn they should not be thrown out anyway, because of their lithium-ion batteries.

RecycleHealth, which started in May, has placed donation boxes on the Tufts University campus in Medford and at Forrester Research, a market research firm in Cambridge. Gualtieri said she has collected about 20 devices and plans to use them as part of a pilot weight-loss program with the YMCA in Fitchburg.

The goal, she said, is to "provide free, refurbished wearables to people who are not typically marketed to by wearable vendors or can't afford them, yet may benefit most, as an incentive to participate in fitness programs."

Gualtieri said the market for activity-tracking devices will continue to grow, even though holding on to customers can be a problem for the device makers. Wall Street investors seem to agree, having pushed Fitbit Inc.'s stock to more than twice its $20 per share IPO price. Corporate health initiatives may be a driver: Boston College, Adobe Systems Inc., and the international oil and gas giant BP are among the employers that have created worker fitness programs with Fitbit.

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"There's a lot of momentum," Gualtieri said.

"The devices can be particularly beneficial if it's information you are sharing with a doctor."


Jessica Geller can be reached at jessica.geller@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @jessicageller57.