Reading the article posted by one of our classmate regarding the cell phones and environment has drawn my attention on looking into the issue as well. So I started to surf for more info related to it. Not to surprise with the result, because there are abundance of articles about it. Cell phone is actually one small example. The real problem is called gadgets, which all of us are involve into whether we like it or not.
To date, hundreds of millions of gadgets are produced annually to meet demand for the latest smart phones, laptops or TVs. The average U.S. household owns 25 electronics products, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, and judging by the upward trend that has been consistently showing across the markets in the region, it appears that more or less people in Asia are having the same percentage. Within few months, the gadget that you buy today will no longer effective, and then you will buy a new one, and thrashed the old one straight into the dustbin. It is wrong but many people still don’t realize that this stuff should be disposed of in a different way than regular old household waste. The question is why?
So far, there has been little discussion about the proper disposal of the gadgets. Little that we know, by recycling, we actually could help recover valuable resources such as gold and platinum that are common in many electronics, and they would help properly dispose of toxic metals like lead and mercury that also are used in electronics and can contaminate soil if carelessly discarded. So as this information carelessly being delivered, we cannot expect people to be responsible to properly dispose gadgets.
Even in U.S, states, cities and consumer groups are still looking for a federal solution to the growing problem of getting rid of more than 2 million tons of used electronic gadgets each year. This is because recycling them is regulated mostly by local or state governments, and rules can change from one locale to the next leading to confusion for both consumers and companies that make and sell electronics.
According to a report, the problem arises because currently there has no electronics recycling legislation on the national level implemented. There are in few countries showing some efforts, where retailers collect a fee of between $8 and $25 on the sale of devices. The fee is used by the state to pay for the collection and recycling of old products. But the lack of public awareness campaign has make people refuse to pay for it.
Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office recommended that the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees waste management, reevaluate its efforts aimed at recycling electronics. The EPA agreed to work toward further integration of their programs to achieve nationwide environmentally responsible management of used electronics.
With that effort, I hope soon or later our government policy will also be joining their effort in educating us of gadget recycling program as well as developing our own gadget recycling law. We cannot say to stop using gadgets to solve the environmental problem because we use them every day, but we can always seek for alternative solution to save our Earth. One of it is to start recycle it. Look in the website, there are many of non-profit organizational who are ready to receive and recycle gadgets for us. So start today, save our Earth.
Fun fact:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/09/gao-report-us-u/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38790868/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
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