When we buy a new phone or a new laptop or anything technological as a matter of fact, we never stop to think what happens to our old phone, laptop and etcetera, right? Well, something still has to become of our old toys or shall I say, e-waste, whether we think about it or not. “According to environmentalists, the toxic materials found in computer equipment include lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, barium etc, warning that – older the computer, the higher the level of toxic elements” (Farid 2012). These are highly hazardous chemicals which need to be disposed of carefully, not just dumped into a waste site. So, where do you think it all goes? Well, I can help you there by giving you some insight into this issue.
E-waste; taken from: http://www.wastemanagementworld.com/electronic-e-waste-china/
Most of the time, “about 80 percent of that material, very quickly, finds itself on a container ship going to a country like China, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Pakistan” (NPR 2010). Instead of being disposed of in a considerate or correct manner, this is what eventually become of the e-waste. If that is not the case, “these discarded electronics often end up in landfills or are incinerated, which can cause major environmental problems, as they are made up of extremely hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium” (Davis 2013). These landfills may not be in our backyard so we might not care about it at all, however, it may be in someone else’s backyard and imagine the sight that poor person has to wake up to every morning?
Now that you know the issue of what becomes of these materials, do you not feel like selfish? We are being selfish by not finding responsible ways of disposing of the materials and allowing it to affect people and communities in other countries, as long as it is not happening to us. There are a few ways we can deal with this however, one of it is “using one of the e-Stewards, certified recyclers that do not ship their electronic waste to be disposed of in different countries” (Castillo 2011). This is one of the few ways that we can utilize in order to dispose of e-waste responsibly. It is our responsibility to society and mother earth to not let the environment and people in different countries suffer. So the next time you would like to dispose of your old technological appliances, think twice and be wise about how you go about it.
References
Castillo, M 2011, ‘Electronic Waste: Where Does It Go and What Happens To It?’, Techland Time, viewed 30 May 2013, http://techland.time.com/2011/01/14/electronic-waste-where-does-it-go-and-what-happens-to-it/
Davis, S 2013, ‘E-Waste: What happens with your outdated or broken gadgets’, CBSNews, viewed 30 May 2013, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57580445/e-waste-what-happens-with-your-outdated-or-broken-gadgets/
Farid, T 2012, ‘Beware of E-waste as great health risk’, Daily Times, viewed 30 May 2013, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C01%5C02%5Cstory_2-1-2012_pg7_18
NPR STAFF 2010, ‘After Dump, What Happens To Electronic Waste?’, NPR¸ viewed 30 May 2013, http://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132204954/after-dump-what-happens-to-electronic-waste
Jeswena Chahil 