What do we do with all of our Outdated Stuff?
As I carry my old Compaq out to the garage I realize that I have two other old, out dated computers, three monitors and a couple of obsolete printers taking up valuable space in my life. The whole world is in the computer age and with out them we couldn’t function in college or high school for that matter. They are a wonderful form of entertainment in our lives as well as in almost every aspect of our working lives. The problem lies in what do we do with all of the waste that is being generated with this technology? Is it the responsibility of the end consumer and the cities and counties to find a safe place for their disposal or should the manufacturers assume the burden? This is one problem that everyone is going to have to work together to make sure we find a useful solution and protect our environment.
According to the EPA in 2007 over 41 million desktop and laptop computers were discarded and over 31 million monitors. These components are only a part of the problem. We also have to deal with televisions, cell phones and gaming systems to name a few others. All of these components contain toxic elements that, if leached into the ground water contaminate an extremely precious resource. There are also elements, such as lead that are harmful just coming into contact with them.
A horrible practice taking place right now is to ship our e-waste over seas to poor countries that have no regulations to protect the people or their environment. The components are disassembled and the metals are sold while the rest of the units are discarded. While some will argue that poorer countries would be worse off with out this means to earn a living, how can we justify the health and pollution problems that our waste is creating? The Electronics TakeBack Coalition would like to see the federal government pass legislation to prohibit the exporting of e-waste to other countries.
With our ever evolving technology comes the responsibility of protecting our planet and the lives that inhabit it. Manufacturers need to make the manufacturing of green electronics a priority and also take the lead from HP and Dell and ban the exporting of e-waste. Consumers need to start looking for electronics that are made with materials that are less toxic and more recycle friendly and make sure that they act responsibly when recycling their electronics. Even the Olympic medals this year contain a small amount of e-waste that would have ended up in Canada’s landfills. And so with this bit of information I challenge everyone to do their part in working to correct this world wide problem.
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We have a computer recycle center here which is nothing more than a beat-up 40 foot trailer...You hand your old computer to a guy that literally tosses it behind him....I don't know what happens to it from there..Maybe they're sent to a third world country where 5 and 6 year old children are whipped and forced to repair them, just to be sold back to us!! Just kidding!
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