E-Waste

The issue of E-Waste in the united states and in the entire world, is an important issue that should immediately addressed. With the rapid rate of improvement in the technological world, the more outdated computer become obsolete. The difference in technology between a computer created today in 2008 compared to one made a mere 3 to 5 years ago is vast. This rapid advance in technology has created the demand for an environmentally safe place to discard all these old computers. However, not only are computers difficult to take apart, they contain extremely harmful chemicals such as lead and mercury,are expensive to recycle and no longer useful.  

Since computers are so difficult to safely dismantle, much of the companies responsible for recycling or disposing of these computers take what little parts that are of value or reusable and then outsource this difficult and expensive labor to other international companies. These companies are in places like Nigeria, China and India where the environmental laws are much less strict and labor is cheap. At these other recycling centers the small amount valuable components that are left on the computer are stripped off with hazardous chemical and many of the unusable remains are burned. These left over parts contain cancer causing chemicals and the effects are intensified when the components are burned, the lead and mercury has seeped into the ground water in the towns where many of these camps are located. 

What makes this issue so difficult to address is that fact that many times the consumer has no control over where their computer goes after they hand it off to their local electronic recycling center. The computers parts are repeatedly outsourced, the problem is outsourced. It is inevitable that e-waste will have detrimental effects on our environment and the people in it as well. In order to be a responsible consumer we should always try to recycle our computers through safe recycling companies, like those that have signed BAN's stewardship pledge. It is also important plays an active roll in regulating how the computers being used in America are being discarded of. Legislation should be passed nationally to regulate e-waste and its negative effects. I believe that the computer companies should be semi responsible for where the computers they create end up. Their is currently legislation like this in Texas but i think it should become a national because computer companies are ethically responsible for where the products they create end up. As consumers, especially consumers in America, we all need to be conscious of where all our waste goes and the affect it has on our environment. We only have one world to live in and all our waste as to go somewhere. Therefore, we need to reduce our use, reuse what we can and recycle the rest.