There is certainly no shortage of the stuff. As the life cycle of the average electronic gadget shrinks to a virtual eye blink, the mountains of electronic trash continue to rise, expected to surpass 70 million metric tons this year, from about 19 million in 1990, according to a 2014 report by Step, a United Nations-affiliated sustainability initiative. Except in unusual cases — like the story last month about a Bay Area woman dumping a rare Apple I computer from the 1970s worth $200,000, apparently by accident, at a recycling facility in Milpitas, Calif. — few look at that trash heap and see treasure.

But that has started to change. While some regard the so-called upcycling of old gadgets into picture frames or planters as an ecological gesture, others see it as a celebration of shared technological heritage.

Jake Harms, 31, who lives in Hildreth, Neb., started a business recycling old iMacs into aquariums and desk lamps in 2007 after a boss directed him to toss an outmoded iMac G3.

The candy-colored, egg-shaped desktop computer, introduced in 1998 as one of Steve Jobs’s first iconic pieces during Apple’s late-’90s comeback, seemed too lovely to toss, Mr. Harms reasoned. So after some online research, he decided to turn it into a computer fish tank (a longstanding hobby for some techies), and has since sold more than 1,000, he said.

To Mr. Harms, the iMac is functional art, like a classic car. And just as a 1960s Ford Mustang may not make an ideal daily drive but is great for a weekend cruises, “an old computer may not run current software, but make some modifications and it makes a pretty sweet aquarium or lamp,” he said.