Remember those old tube TVs that used to sit in our
living rooms and bed rooms? Some of us
may still have them! Gameboys? Do remember how excited we were when out
sight first landed on these new gadgets?
I know I was mesmerized. 4-5 years
ago the Gameboy was magical to me. Now...not
so much. Now I have my ipod; which in my
opinion is a lot better than the old Gameboy.
Now I have a flat screen TV sitting in my living room, not a tube TV
that weighed like 100 pounds. Do you
ever think about where our old TV’s, computers and techy gadgets go?
Our old friends end up at Absolute Green Electronics Recycling in Lake Forest. The pieces of technology are sorted and put
into bins that stretch in rows across a mammoth warehouse. There is a bin for everything; graphic cards,
circuit boards, cellphones, VHS camcorders, digital cameras, cables, network switches,
keyboards, cords, you name it! Computers, TV’s,
Printers and monitors are stacked up forming an intimidating mountain. It’s a world of technology there!
According to the Solving
the E-Waste Problem Initiative, a coalition of governments, scientists and
industry groups based in Bonn, Germany, there is a total of nearly 50 million tons of electronic
waste a year worldwide. U.S. leads the pack with 3 million tons a year followed
by China at 2.3 million. Statistics show
that within five years the total amount of E-waste may reach up to 65 million
tons!
All of the E-waste we collect is quickly imported;
mainly to China but also other areas such as India, Pakistan and Nigeria. In these places, cheap labor and poor law
enforcement allow for the wastes to enter and be handled in the country. Countries like Africa and China have created
bustling scrap metal businesses. The
waste and labor is concerning to people because much of the electronic junk
contains lead, mercury, and other hazardous substances that are released when
the waste is melted down to recover gold, silver, and copper! These toxins are not only bad for the environment;
they are bad for us to. Really bad. Jim Puckett, founder of the Seattle-based
Basel Action Network said, “You see all these thousands — literally thousands —
of women and young kids whose job is to cook circuit boards,” People aren’t
safe in many places.
The Basel Convention controls the transboundary
movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. I was very surprised to find out that 35
nations have adopted the principles of the Basel Convention, except the
U.S. I guess I was a bit annoyed when I
read this because the U.S. is by far the largest producer of e-waste.
I was glad to have read this article because not
only did it reduce my ignorance of the technology it also made me want to enlighten
other people about what is in store for us in the future. I want to live in a safe and healthy
environment and in order to do that, it involves getting active; spreading the word
and making more people aware. Encourage
people to recycle the waste you use because it can make a huge difference. Besides the health benefits, recycling can
conserve large amounts of precious metals that can be reused and carbon dioxide
and energy savings.
"In the Spotlight." Basel Convention Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"Obsolete Gadgetry Can Pollute Poorer Countries." The Orange County Register. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"The Problem with E-Waste | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building." Inhabitat Sustainable Design Innovation Eco Architecture Green Building Electronics Recycling 101 The Problem With EWaste Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
This is a very well-written and post that taught me interesting information about a completely new topic. I agree with you that living in a safe environment is important, and with so many electronics that get wasted every day, the environment is becoming less and less healthy. I feel terrible that the US is the largest producer of e-waste because it is our fault that poorer people in countries like China are being forced to put their lives at risk. I especially like that you chose a topic many other people would not choose because readers get to learn about something completely new and very important to the development of the planet. The blog post was written with well-chosen language and you made the topic seem interesting to me, too. Fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I really liked the way you used language that made the blog seem very personal, especially when you were talking about how we used to be mesmerized by Gameboys! I think this is a very interesting topic as well. I had never really thought about what happened to electronics when they were thrown out, but this is a very dangerous solution. It is very bad that there are thousands of workers being harmed by these toxins in old electrons because there job is to get rid of the electronics. However, I still wonder what could be a better solution for disposing of these electronics? Overall, great job and very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very well written and brought up a topic that is extremely interesting and critical but is not very well known or understood. I had never thought about where all of these electronics go when they are evolving and becoming outdated. What is very intimidating is since the speed of the evolving of technological complexity is increasingly and impecably fast, the buildup of this disposal could become extremely immense. The other thing that is becoming larger is the amount of technology used by each and every person on the planet. You brought up a very upsetting point about the fact that the US is not adopting the principles of the Basel Convention while they are unargueably one of the top producers of this technology waste. This article overall brought up a topic that is not just a problem now but will be increasingly for years to come. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a well written post despite a few small spelling errors, but I make those all the time too! I'm surprised that the electronics in America aren't recycled, especially because of all the
ReplyDelete