e-Trashing The Planet
We are so besotted with electronic gadgetry, we simply cannot get enough of them; the latest versions of all manner of electronic toys we've already had in various upgrades continually making way for the very newest to come onto the market. People are so anxious to acquire these new versions with all manner of cute and cleverly appealing details that they line up before dawn - occasionally even camping out overnight in front of the electronics superstores to be first in line to acquire 'limited' numbers - that their acquisition becomes a seriously integral issue of perception of quality of life.
The chagrin, downright embarrassment when one's friends and acquaintances have taken possession of the very latest, in delivering the grim news that one hasn't yet taken possession of one's own is enough to label one definitely uncool. Expense be damned, who can wait for the newest versions to settle into the easily-acquisitioned niche once the first enthusiasm has abated after market introduction. The eagerness to avail oneself of these items is so great that nothing else seems to matter.
And so we burden ourselves with the latest flat-screen television, tossing out the still-functioning old set, ditto the slacker computer with insufficient operating speed and while we're at it those 'old' cell phones not tricked out with futuristic upgrades that everyone just simply must have to remain credibly in the game. What to do with the old models - 'old' often being consonant with a year or so, but lamentably without the very latest features - becomes a question.
All those printers, cellphones, audio and video equipment, high-tech home appliances, computers, television, have become a worrying burden on our waste management systems. These items, with plenty of life left in them, can often be given to charitable groups who sell them at a modest price to those who cannot afford the newer, pricier, latest models. But if they're set aside at home and just hoarded until such a time erupts as they become an outdated nagging nuisance one is anxious to be shed of, they can end up in the dump.
Out of sight, out of mind. Despite that there are small shops set up by enterprising individuals determined to recycle society's e-technology detritus to avoid the growing problem of improperly disposing of hazardous waste, by re-use when possible, disassembling and removing toxic materials for proper disposal. It's an immense problem, and a steadily growing one, in our societies besotted with the allure of new and advanced technologies available for personal use.
Statistics Canada points out that over a third of households country-wide discard unused or obsolete computers and other communication devices in cleaning house, with very few taken to special waste depots or returned to suppliers, and a proportion of one in five simply placing these e-waste objects out for normal garbage dumps. The result - potentially lethal substances leach into the soil, groundwater and the atmosphere. Their cavalier disposal has been directly linked to reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders - in animals and in people, according to Environment Canada.
We live in such a self-absorbed and busy world, people seem to find the time to ensure they're able to afford and acquire expensive gadgetry, which soon enough become useless e-junk. In the process of acquiring and discarding, little intelligent thought is given to the incredible waste of resources involved in the cost of the raw materials, the labour, the production and transportation of these items. Advertising ensures that these are possessions people crave, wanting to own the very creatively latest.
No thought wasted in the sterile and irritating obligation to ensure proper disposal. Let alone some introspection about why anyone could possibly need all that stuff to begin with. Are our lives, otherwise devoid of these electronic items, so void of meaning? If anything their serial possession and discarding, diminishes the consumer to a purchasing automaton, one valued by the manufacturer, and, in fact, to the producing country for aiding their GDP. In environmental and value terms, their usefulness to society is close to nil.
Provinces across the country are beginning to wake up to the very real problems inherent in lax attitudes toward recycling and proper storage of contaminating elements in these products. A responsively needed stewardship program is being initiated aimed at proper recycling of electronics, 27% of which is now reused or recycled on an annual basis, with the remainder being landfilled or exported overseas. No one appears to be keeping tabs on the inimical effects of these environmental and human health implications.
Along with the new recycling programs a tracking and audit system will perform a needed complementary task to ensure responsible safety standards are recognized and adhered to. We owe it, collectively, to ourselves, to future generations, to ensure that we don't end up irremediably contaminating our soil, water and air. As to how or whether it's possible to wean the public away from its love affair with this constant, short-life turnover of electronics, that's another matter.
Whatever became of that practical and useful dedication to use a product to the end of its useful life? We're an incredibly bored and acquisitive society, incapable of recognizing life's value and the quality that living in balance with our environment brings to us. Much as I disliked the nagging message contained in that neat little film, 'e-Wall', there's an unmistakably wry truth to humankind's absorption with trashing this Planet, our only home.
The chagrin, downright embarrassment when one's friends and acquaintances have taken possession of the very latest, in delivering the grim news that one hasn't yet taken possession of one's own is enough to label one definitely uncool. Expense be damned, who can wait for the newest versions to settle into the easily-acquisitioned niche once the first enthusiasm has abated after market introduction. The eagerness to avail oneself of these items is so great that nothing else seems to matter.
And so we burden ourselves with the latest flat-screen television, tossing out the still-functioning old set, ditto the slacker computer with insufficient operating speed and while we're at it those 'old' cell phones not tricked out with futuristic upgrades that everyone just simply must have to remain credibly in the game. What to do with the old models - 'old' often being consonant with a year or so, but lamentably without the very latest features - becomes a question.
All those printers, cellphones, audio and video equipment, high-tech home appliances, computers, television, have become a worrying burden on our waste management systems. These items, with plenty of life left in them, can often be given to charitable groups who sell them at a modest price to those who cannot afford the newer, pricier, latest models. But if they're set aside at home and just hoarded until such a time erupts as they become an outdated nagging nuisance one is anxious to be shed of, they can end up in the dump.
Out of sight, out of mind. Despite that there are small shops set up by enterprising individuals determined to recycle society's e-technology detritus to avoid the growing problem of improperly disposing of hazardous waste, by re-use when possible, disassembling and removing toxic materials for proper disposal. It's an immense problem, and a steadily growing one, in our societies besotted with the allure of new and advanced technologies available for personal use.
Statistics Canada points out that over a third of households country-wide discard unused or obsolete computers and other communication devices in cleaning house, with very few taken to special waste depots or returned to suppliers, and a proportion of one in five simply placing these e-waste objects out for normal garbage dumps. The result - potentially lethal substances leach into the soil, groundwater and the atmosphere. Their cavalier disposal has been directly linked to reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders - in animals and in people, according to Environment Canada.
We live in such a self-absorbed and busy world, people seem to find the time to ensure they're able to afford and acquire expensive gadgetry, which soon enough become useless e-junk. In the process of acquiring and discarding, little intelligent thought is given to the incredible waste of resources involved in the cost of the raw materials, the labour, the production and transportation of these items. Advertising ensures that these are possessions people crave, wanting to own the very creatively latest.
No thought wasted in the sterile and irritating obligation to ensure proper disposal. Let alone some introspection about why anyone could possibly need all that stuff to begin with. Are our lives, otherwise devoid of these electronic items, so void of meaning? If anything their serial possession and discarding, diminishes the consumer to a purchasing automaton, one valued by the manufacturer, and, in fact, to the producing country for aiding their GDP. In environmental and value terms, their usefulness to society is close to nil.
Provinces across the country are beginning to wake up to the very real problems inherent in lax attitudes toward recycling and proper storage of contaminating elements in these products. A responsively needed stewardship program is being initiated aimed at proper recycling of electronics, 27% of which is now reused or recycled on an annual basis, with the remainder being landfilled or exported overseas. No one appears to be keeping tabs on the inimical effects of these environmental and human health implications.
Along with the new recycling programs a tracking and audit system will perform a needed complementary task to ensure responsible safety standards are recognized and adhered to. We owe it, collectively, to ourselves, to future generations, to ensure that we don't end up irremediably contaminating our soil, water and air. As to how or whether it's possible to wean the public away from its love affair with this constant, short-life turnover of electronics, that's another matter.
Whatever became of that practical and useful dedication to use a product to the end of its useful life? We're an incredibly bored and acquisitive society, incapable of recognizing life's value and the quality that living in balance with our environment brings to us. Much as I disliked the nagging message contained in that neat little film, 'e-Wall', there's an unmistakably wry truth to humankind's absorption with trashing this Planet, our only home.
Labels: Environment, Realities, Whoops
posted by Pieface @ 6:37 PM
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