Annie Leonard The Story Of Stuff Electronics

Giles Slade stated, “E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste” (Slade, 2015). Electronic waste is extremely harmful on the environment and contaminates the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil we grow our vegetables in. Electronics contain high amounts of heavy metals, which are extremely toxic to all forms of life. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). With our technology constantly advancing, we begin to find that e-waste continues to grow at an exponential rate. Many people want the newest and best technology, which leads to the older electronics being tossed out. Instead of individuals taking their old electronics to be recycled though, they tend to throw it in the waste bin and it doesn’t get the proper disposal it needs. According to GreenPeace, “it is estimated that 10-20 percent of discarded computers go to landfill” (GreenPeace, 2009). That percentage is a pretty hefty, especially when 60 Minutes estimates that “130,000 computers are thrown out every day” (CBS, 2008). With that estimate and percentage, anywhere from 13,000 to 26,000 computers are thrown out every day and not properly

However, there have been attempts to stop this. The United States is the only industrialized country who does not have an international treaty which makes it illegal to export or traffic toxic e-waste. The idea is to stop dumping e-waste on the world’s poorest, poverty struck nations and to work towards safer waste management within the country. The European Union provides a model for industrial regulation, hoping that the burden of the e-waste would be put on manufacturers instead of the consumers. On the other hand, a more fitting choice would be to begin manufacturing the devices with an end of life plan. As of right now cell phones are designed to make disassembly difficult. Instead, ideas have been proposed to sell the devices with prearranged disposal service or to allow users to exchange their old phone for a new one instead of throwing them away improperly. With the idea in mind that individuals play a role in environmental sustainability, this provides incentive that people would be more interested in trading in their old phones for new ones while saving the earth at the same

Electronics Recycling. Electronic recycling is one consideration the company can do better with. Recycling in general lowers greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing items for the first time. Recycling electronics conserves natural resources making cleaner air and water. The valuable resources computers and electronic components carry are metals, plastics, and glass. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling a million laptops would give back enough energy for 3500 American homes’ electricity. A million cell phones would could yield 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium. Instead of throwing out the old computers and blackberry’s, the company could simply upgrade the hardware or software and then recycle the parts necessary.

It states that in the Alex Lin video, Alex Lin was reading the newspaper one day and saw this thing called e-waste. E-waste is where people throw away electronics into the environment. It can destroy the soil. Alex wanted to stop that from happening, so he got a big group and started collecting electronics.

As used electronics is becoming a waster hazard worldwide local governments such as where I live include programs at local waste stations purely for electronics. This encourages local residents to freely drop off their electronic waste, like TV’s and computers and mobile phones to these locations where the waste is sorted and than shipped to facilities that can process this waste appropriately which also includes recycling as much material as possible. This has a

It has become the new “norm” with people to replace their electronics because their devices become out of date or they feel like they have to have the latest thing. In the article “Our E-Waste Problem Is Ridiculous, And Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping,” by Christina Bonnington, the author discusses how people buy new electronics every year when they come out and the old ones get abandoned. She also talks about how many people aren’t properly recycling their old devices and how some electronics can be impossible to recycle the right way. She also talks

Today, with over 7 billion people on Earth, the demand for technology is rising rapidly. As companies work hard to meet demands and mass produce technology for both society and businesses, they release harmful chemicals and gasses which pollute the environment and result in climate changes (Ramey). And not only does the overproduction of technology pollute the air, but it also harms the ground that we stand on. Technotrash, or any broken or unwanted electronic device, is currently the most rapidly-growing type of waste (Green) and according to GreenDisk, a company dedicated towards safely recycling technotrash, over 80% of technotrash is not being recycled. While technotrash represents only 2% of America’s trash in landfills, it equals 70% (emphasis) of overall toxic waste (“11 Facts”) because the toxins in technology can leak into the ground (Anthony). For example, lead from cell phone circuit boards can cause

Alex Lin was one teen activist who saw a problem in e-waste.He was reading an article from the wall street journal, and he saw that there was an e-waste tsunami to come. In the article, it said that Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Even worse, just 18 percent of discarded televisions and computer products were collected for recycling.To stop this he created team W.I.N, {Westerly Innovations Network}.He worked with Metech International to hold a recycling program for e-waste and they collected 21,000 pounds of E-Waste.Then his team saw that it was easier to refurbish the electronics than to recycle them.He worked with his school district to put refurbishing

Alex Lin recycles electronics, when he was in 5th grade he read a magazine and realized that he should do something about it. After he read about it he has seen a lot of people wasting and throwing away electronics. With that problem, he took some of his friends and decided to create a website. Ever seen then people been aware of throwing away electronics. He is now 16 years old and he overseen the recycling of 300,000 pounds of e-waste. Also, he helped create 7 media centers around the

This shows that Alex Lin is resourceful. According to research,”E-waste, or electronics garbage, is the fastest growing section of the U.S. trash stream. In 2007, Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily,...” After he read an article in The Wall Street Journal he told his friends about the problem and started to help by refurbishing computers. Lin knew that the chemicals inside of electronics are bad for the environment, because the chemicals were bad for the environment. In 2007 Americans discarded 112,000 computer daily. Lin and his friend took a field trip to the State House and tried to pass a bill that it is illegal to throw away computer but sadly it did not pass because they did not want it to pass, and they did not think that it was important.. Even though they had worked so hard it felt like they hadn’t listened. Eventually Alex Lin did get the bill passed because the problem was getting too big and now it is illegal to throw away electronics in Rhode Island and today Alex Lin has seven center around the world helping the

Many Americans have the luxury of purchasing new electronics almost every year. Something that is ignored, since it has become so natural, is exactly how their little devices had come to their lives and what happens when it is thrown away. In a more perfect world, the production of electronics would that of an ethical process, but it is unfortunately not that case. It all starts with the harvesting of raw materials.

In today 's digital era, advancements are being made everywhere in attempt to change the world for the better. We as a society are trying to break through with technological discoveries, yet also try to cut down on our emitted green house gases; are both of these ambitions actually feasible, and can they cooperate with one another? Obviously the manufacturing and use of our internet-connected devices contribute to the overall pollution of the world, so no matter how efficient these devices are, there will always be room for improvement, however does their effect on our environment really play that large of a part? The intended goal for this paper is to deconstruct the 'meaning ' and overall effect behind an average North-American 's embodied greenhouse gases.

In my animation, I will be focusing on how to recycle electronics properly and that throwing away technology is wrong and can have horrible effects on our environment. An example is that most electronics which are

Speaking of recycling, the term 'recycle' is partly incorrect. Most items that gets recycled are turned into products of lesser value. A good example of this is a car. When cars are to be 'recycled', they are usually melted. This is a grand mistake, because when the car melts, all the different types of metals join together into a 'monstrous hybrid', thus making it impossible to be made into a car again. The authors call this 'downcycling'. If we can recycle everything we discard into an object of equal or increased value, we would not be required to mine for the resources. The authors call this

Therefore, the United States environmental technology has experienced development in the last 10 years. For example, computers and laptops or even smart phones are the main important device that each person must have, because people thinks these devices makes their life easier and quicker. It has made our life easier by bringing its best solution to education such as schools. In my opinion, technology has enhanced our lives by providing many simple services without doing any physical movement. And it also enhanced the levels of education and established world countries to foster economic development.