Going Green

Follow-Up Paper

Joe Farrar

The issue of e-waste is one that cannot be easily solved by any single entity or act of charity. Its solution lies in the collective effort and education on the part of consumers. If left unchecked, e-waste could become a serious threat to the environment and the health of future generations.

E-waste is for the most part not dealt with by the industrialized nations that produce the bulk of the global electronic waste. Strict EPA standards and recycling guidelines make it cheaper to export this problem to the developing countries of the third world for profit than to deal with it at home.

Trade in e-waste is exporting real harm to poor communities of the third world. The manner in which these materials are disposed of pollutes the land, air, and water. Men, women, and children of poorer developing countries are exposed to what is simply poison. Westerners who produce the waste or the waste brokers who benefit from its trade do not realize the severe health and economic impact. Poor countries with loose environmental laws that receive e-waste find themselves having to choose between developing their economies and the health of their citizens.

Education is the greatest tool in the fight against export of e-waste as it still remains the dirty little secret of the technology revolution. The blame for how e-waste is mishandled has been skirted by government officials, the electronics industry, and even by some companies involved in e-waste recycling.

Under the current model in which electronics are produced, e-waste begins its journey to toxic landfills before products ever hit store shelves since electronic manufacturers refuse to eliminate hazardous materials or design products for easy disassembly. In addition, government policies fail to hold manufacturers responsible for coming up with end of life-cycle solutions for their products.

Ultimately, consumers are the unwitting recipients of a toxic product sold to them by companies with the ability to prevent or limit the use of toxic materials in the manufacturing phase of the product life cycle. Left with only a few choices as to how and where to recycle, and even less information on recycling responsibly, consumers often make the wrong decision. The misguided belief that recycling is the only viable solution simply results in more problems after the fact, particularly when the e-wastes are toxic and disposed of improperly.

The crux of this issue relates to the fact that few of us realize just how the obsolete computer we pay someone to take off our hands to recycle might end up in a toxic landfill in China, India, Africa or some other far-off destination. What is sad is that there are other viable options for producing eco-friendly hardware as well as ways of ensuring that computers or other electronic hardware are disposed of in a responsible manner. There are also a new business opportunities and profit to be made without negatively impacting the environment.

Companies such as Green Disc have shown that making a profit and helping the environment do not need to oppose one another. GreenDisc offers services to “handle all your techno trash disposal needs from a CD to a PC and just about everything in between.” The amount of e-waste GreenDisk and other e-cycling businesses are able to responsibly reconstitute barely scrapes the surface of what could some day be a huge industry. Ideally, more of these types of companies will pop up around the globe affording consumers more responsible options.

Aside from the for-profit operations, there are also many not-for-profit organizations like the Computer Recycling Center and the Share Technology Organization that offer programs geared towards extending the life of used technology. This is done by donating it to those less fortunate and giving used technology a second chance to function as a useful tool. Additionally, such companies offer options for recycling damaged or unusable e-waste. Because of recent attention paid to global warming and climate change, environmental issues will figure into future consumer purchasing decisions and hopefully demand a change on the part of the electronics industry.