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Getting a grip on e-waste mess. How ‘bout we just create less? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-10  

So, before the days of PCs (personal computers), consumers had calculators. These, like today’s cellular telephones or yesteryear’s portable transistor radios, also were hand-held devices.

Being that prior to my becoming a journalist I was a home-entertainment, audio-equipment repair technician, the devices I worked on could be classified accordingly: tape decks and tape recorders (reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette), turntables, tuners, receivers, speakers, amplifiers and miscellaneous odds-and-ends electronics products like car-audio systems. It was fulfilling work and I always enjoyed a good challenge in terms of my fixing said equipment.

Then things changed. As it evolved, electronics gear became super micro-miniaturized, prompting a seismic shift in the whole repair dynamic. Sad to say, said repair work was practically rendered null and void, a trend, I would say, that began sometime in the 1980s.

What’s important to note is that today, we are, seemingly, more and more becoming a “throw-away” society. And, by that I mean, when something electric or electro-mechanical like a toaster or electric can opener goes on the fritz, we, without giving a second thought in most instances, just throw the appliance out, and, generally, it’s replaced with one that’s new. And, that process, my friends, only serves to create additional waste compared to what could be the case.

So, the question is what to do with all the e-waste. Recycling is one option, of course. But, there is only so much material that can be recycled — that is, that which is comprised of the gold and other metals and plastic parts, etc. Another question is: In the process of extracting the precious metal gold, what is the impact on the environment — the land, water and air? I’ve come to learn that the picture is not a pretty one. Much environmental degradation can and has come about. That needs to change.

The best all-around solution is just to produce less e-waste. An easier-said-than-done proposition or prospect, I realize. But, that in no way means that a brand new e-waste-reduction trend cannot be started. And, one that’s in earnest, no less.

But, to do that it will take tremendous discipline and commitment on the part of the consuming public to make any kind of an appreciable difference. And, we can’t know what the results will be without trying. That’s a given.



For more information, see: http://www.basel.int/Home/tabid/2202/Default.aspx.

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