New technology shouldn’t be wasteful
By Millie Tran
April 27, 2009 9:01 p.m.
Imagine: It’s 2059. You’re in the Guiyu of Guangdong Province, China, strolling the streets. The air is crisp and the grass green. The cafe-lined streets are littered with people chatting and typing away on their laptops.
Actually, at this rate, the only thing Guiyu will be littered with is electronic waste, or e-waste, an umbrella term for discarded electronic devices.
Instead of the idyllic image of Guiyu above, the town is the main center of exported e-waste, in China.
The benefits of computers are obvious, but we often overlook the environmental costs and increased e-waste. For instance, it was Earth Day on Wednesday, and I’ll bet that we all used our computers without a thought of where they’d eventually end up.
As Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a recycling watchdog group, said in a statement, “It just so happens that the most benign part of a product’s life cycle is when it’s sitting on your desk. That happens in rich countries. The ugly parts of the life cycle, the dirtier parts, the production and the waste, happen in developing countries.”
An alarming 50 to 80 percent of American e-waste is exported to developing countries, driven by economic benefits and often in violation of international law.
It is counterintuitive to send emerging countries a defunct bundle of lead, mercury and cadmium wrapped in wires coated with highly toxic plastic and expect them to prosper. Nascent countries should not serve as virulent dumping grounds for our trash.
The emergence of netbooks ““ which are cheaper, smaller laptop computers ““ will dwarf efforts at regulating e-waste. The proliferation of netbooks means more people will be able to afford them. Efforts to bring computing technologies to developing countries calls upon these pillars of affordability to increase accessibility.
However, netbook consumers aren’t made up of the growing middle class or those who are buying a computer for the first time.
As of November 2008, 70 percent of netbook sales occurred in Europe ““ presumably to those who wanted an additional, more portable computer.
Netbooks range from about $200 to $400; that’s nearly a third of the price of a regular laptop computer, which ranges from about $600 to $1200.
Last month, AT&T offered customers in Atlanta and Philadelphia a netbook for only $50 if they signed up for an Internet service plan.
These low-priced computers will increase competition and drive prices down, but they will also drive up production and ““ in the long run ““ create more e-waste. Netbooks will stimulate a culture of disposable electronics.
This notion of planned obsolescence has already been cultivated with the rapid consumption of iPods, which are updated every year or two. It seems illogical to fix your iPod if it’s cheaper to buy a new one.
Hopefully, you won’t have to make a decision about recycling your computer anytime soon, but when you do, there are options. The Goodwill branch in Southern California offers a free computer recycling and donation program.
If you are considering purchasing a computer, check whether the company has a “take-back” program and, if so, where they will take back your computer to recycle. Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba all offer completely free take-back programs for computers. Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and Asus (laptops only) will take back some products for free. The quest for computing accessibility and affordability does not have to be synonymous with increased production and e-waste.
If you have other tips for recycling old computers and reducing e-waste, e-mail Tran at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].
