The winter holidays are nearly upon us — and with them, a tide of presents big and small. Of course, one particularly popular gift is personal electronics, from new laptops for college students to the latest smartphone.
Electronics are a ubiquitous and often immensely helpful part of our lives, but unfortunately, so is planned obsolescence. Our constant need for the latest and greatest leaves a lot of the older and not so awesome rattling around in the back of drawers and closets.
It’s known as e-waste, and it’s a growing global problem.
What’s the issue? Can’t we just donate or recycle old components?
Well, for starters, making new components involves resources — including metals, manufacturing space and the myriad processes and components that go into producing a new consumer good. Along the way, poor working conditions mean that people — typically in the developing world — work long hours for low wages to produce goods at appealing prices. Not so great.
60 percent of electronics no longer in use end up in landfills. Potentially usable components aren’t reclaimed, driving the production of new ones. They also leach harmful compounds into the Earth, including toxic metals that end up in the water table.
Of those that are recycled — whether they’re rehabbed and passed on to someone who needs them or sent to a recycling facility to be broken down — many end up in what amount to backyard recycling operations in the Global South.
People often lack protective gear as they wrench electronics apart for valuable components. They expose themselves and the environment to toxins, while scattering useless parts that may be dumped in a landfill or burned, generating polluting emissions.
By contrast, repairing consumer goods addresses these issues, as does upgrading them. For example, maybe that college student frustrated with a slow laptop needs the gift of new memory instead.
Many fixes are pretty basic, and for those leery of DIY, there are lots of professionals who love doing repairs and upgrades. It keeps your electronics out of the waste stream and allows you to get more out of them, two compelling reasons to reconsider asking for — or giving — electronics as gifts.
But what about when you absolutely have to replace electronics because they’re so dated that they can’t be upgraded, or they’re damaged beyond repair?
You can make smart disposal decisions to mitigate the risk of sending them to an unethical recycler. Before you donate your electronics to an organization that accepts old computers, phones and other equipment, ask exactly what they do with these products. If something can’t be rehabbed or reused, do they recycle it? Which firm handles their recycling?
Investigating recyclers can be trickier, as much of what they do takes place behind closed doors — and often overseas. It’s not like you can drop by the shop to confirm that people have appropriate personal protective equipment and that components are preserved, rather than junked or burned.
To read the full story, visit http://www.care2.com/causes/do-you-really-need-new-electronics-for-the-holidays.html.