Part1 : Sexy electronic gadgets – Risk to Human life?

Many of us here in the silicon valley, home of innovation and the tech industry, have little to no knowledge of the human risk  the sexy gadgets like cell phones , PDAs, TVs, Computers, Printers etc pose.  These gadgets do make our life much easier and convenient and are big part of our day to day activities. They are needed, absolutely needed, to keep pace with the rat race we have introduced our selves into.  

 

I have numerous obsolete electronics in my garage – cell phones, cameras, batteries, printer, scanner, computer, speakers, entertainment set, and TVs, the list goes on. These occupy quiet a bit of space in my garage. How do I dispose these? I have known from the brochures of the local waste management, left at my front door - never to dispose these with the rest of the household waste, not even in the recycle bin.  Why, I ask myself. Well, they contain hazardous materials (hazmat). In my mind, I think, Hazmat….in my house….sounds dangerous….why would I have hazmat in my house…you must be kiddin, right! I'm paying to get hazmat in my house….don't they have laws about it!? 

 

If a nice hot cup of coffee says 'Caution – coffee is HOT', wouldn't they say on the electronics 'Caution – contains Hazmat' I turned the computer upside down to see if it said anything like that, in really small print. Nope, didn't find it (Surprise! Surprise!).

 

Many questions started popping in my head and I set to find out what is in these sexy gadgets, that we all tote about, think is cool to own, and cannot live without.

 

Searches on Google quickly lead to the realization that this is a bigger beast than I thought.   Computers, stereos, TVs, printers , scanners,   cell phones , PDA, electrical appliances like Fridge, Toaster, Telephone, washer dryer, air conditioners, fluorescent lamp bulbs all come under the 'E-waste' umbrella. Apparently 'E-waste' is emerging global environmental problem which could pose a serious risk to human health.

 

There was a time, when the electrical and electronic equipments were repaired and re-used. But now we are in, what I would like to call 'The disposable Era' where once the appliance malfunctions, we buy a new one. You don't call a technician if your toaster broke, you just get a new one. This is true for most electrical equipments. In the case of electronic gadgets I would like to say, we are in 'The upgrade era'. We are constantly upgrading our gadgets, even though the previous one functions just fine.

 

"Every year, 20 to 50 million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment waste ("e-waste") are generated world-wide, which could bring serious risks to human health and the environment " (UNEP,2005)

 

Since there was so much to blog on the topic of e-waste, I decided to break it into parts and this is part 1.

 

 More later!