Electronic waste, or e-waste, has become a rising environmental issue in the world today. E-waste is an expression used to describe unwanted, dysfunctional, or obsolete electronic products that are nearing the end of their useful life (“What Is E-Waste?”). The products encompassed by the term are a broad spectrum of appliances ranging from household items such as refrigerators, microwaves, and ovens to everyday modern technology like smartphones, computers, TVs, and stereos (“E-Waste Information”). E-waste consists of many toxic chemicals that are detrimental to environmental health and human well-being (“Electronic Waste - The Truth”). The main cause of e-waste is the improper recycling of e-waste which leads to the slow accumulation of electronics …show more content…
“Up to 90% of the world’s electronic waste...is illegally traded or dumped each year according to the UN Environment Programme” (Curtis). Developed countries often dispose of their electronic waste in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam (Curtis). In these developing countries, people frequently burn electronic junk to retrieve valuable metals, such as gold, copper, and silver, that are embedded inside wires and copper boards (Carroll). For example, in Ghana, people burn, shred, and disassemble the e-waste, releasing toxic chemicals hazardous to human health (McAllister). People in Ghana, including children, collect the precious metals and resell them to companies in exchange for food, clothes, and water (Carroll). China is another country being severely affected by the improper disposal of e-waste. Toxic chemicals seep into the ground, resulting in food contamination. In particular, rice patties absorb the chemicals causing the rice to become tainted (“The Problem with E-Waste”). Guiyu is a city in China that is notorious for e-waste. Like Ghana, the citizens of Guiyu are involved in burning e-waste to extract valuables (Carroll). China has taken steps to end this e-waste trade, but their efforts have been disregarded and ignored by other countries (Carroll). The government has attempted to enact laws prohibiting the dumping of e-waste, but these attempts have been disregarded by
Even though electronic waste contributes one percent of waste as discussed earlier, it poses a significant threat to the environment. “RCRA does not, however, cover electronic waste except CRTs, nor does it regulate electronic devices donated for educational or charitable reuse.” The RCRA should implement rules to govern e-waste because e-waste not only affects lives in the United States, It affects everyone globally. E-waste typically finds its ways out of the United States and ends up in developing countries like
Since the industrial revolution the United States has experienced tremendous change. This change has created a consumer culture that has resulted in the creation of mass amounts of waste. According to reports, in the year 2003 Americans produced almost 500 million pounds waste. Alone the U.S consumes 30% of the world’s resources and produces 30% of all waste (Conquest, 2). These numbers attest to a consumer culture that has created an undesirable waste problem that is yet to be resolved. However, not everyone is affected proportionately by waste, as predominantly low-income communities live in close proximity to waste related sites. In this paper I will discuss how low-income communities are disproportionately subjected to the detrimental health effects caused by waste, and I will argue that low-income communities have historically and are currently responding to counter the effects of waste to protect their communities.
Electronic waste, or any waste for that matter is an inevitable part of an economic system where the destruction of an ecosystem is the primarily source of resources that are used to create the product. The waste that occurs from this process has to be disposed of in some way and more often than not, it is disposed of carelessly with out consideration to the affect it would have on the environment or the very people that create and let capitalism live on, “The political economy approach also defers progress on environmental issues to a pint after economic ones are solved” (Robbins et al. 2010, 114). And if this continues there may be no place left for the excess waste created by capitalism.
...ion even more. We tend to shop for more products that we want because we are never contented on what we have. This results into an increase amount of electronic waste products that often end up in our landfills, or are being burned in incinerators, all to which are the cause of air, land, and water pollution.
The average cell phone is used less than 18 months and 140 million of them end up in a landfill each year.(Statistics) The landfills are slowly filling up with our obsolete cell phones. The phone’s circuits are coated with lead, and the lithium ion batteries often explode in landfills creating craters of heavy metal toxic waste for future generations to have to deal with. Even though there is an effort to recycle this waste, the problem is going to get worse before it gets better as more and more of the world’s citizens embrace cellular
In addition, individuals dispose off their electronic waste wrongly, and it ends up in the incinerators, where toxic gases are produced.
The environmental performance of numerous tech companies has been evaluated and since Apple has grown over time, it has received more attention. There has been a frequent campaign against Apple by different environmental organisations such as Greenpeace requesting for the elimination of hardware components that are non-recyclable hardware components, a comprehensive plan that would make the products of Apple not end up in the waste and the removal of toxins from iPhone hardware (Apple Inc. 2016). As much as such campaigns affect the operations of Apple Inc., they are good since they help in the conservation of the environment thus having a good impact on the
Imagine that you’re driving on an open highway in the middle of summer. All you see in front of you is asphalt for miles and miles. The windows are down and your favorite song comes on the radio. You’re behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S, the newest electric car that can go from zero to sixty miles per hour in 2.4 seconds. This will soon be the future of all motor vehicles. Electric cars are beginning to have colossal impacts on our society because of their energy efficiency, performance benefits, and the fact that they are less harmful to the environment. In the near future, electric cars will dominate the road and eventually the planet’s overall need for oil will decrease immensely.
Recycling. What does this word mean to you? Do you recycle? Do you support or oppose the act of it? What is written in the following paragraphs may or may not help you make this one special planet in our solar system we call Earth; the only planet scientists know supports life. Recycling benefits many aspects of life. Recycling benefits the aesthetics of our daily environment, it makes our family and friends safer from sickness, it boosts our economy, and it allows us to make more use of the limited natural nonrenewable resources we have on our earth. Recycling will benefit life by reducing our environmental impact, preventing injury, boosting the economy, and extending the use we can make can make out of our resources.
Attention Getter: Most of the people present here today probably recycle; some more than others. And probably, most people assume that they are saving natural resources and helping the environment. However, this is not always true.
Pollution is affecting many individuals and life, as we know it. We need to do something about how it’s affecting our world. That’s why I urge the issue that more people should realize that pollution is an issue that needs to be prevented because of its negative consequences. Which are health affects, the total destruction of environments, and the death of animals and plants. More awareness must be brought up amongst the people and they must realize the long-term benefits it has for the world.
In the 1870’s, plastic was discovered in the United States when John Wesley Hyatt was trying to create a different material to make billiard balls (Manrich, 3). Little did he know it would majorly evolve into material we use everyday. However, plastics are now taking over our landfills. The average American throws away one-hundred and eighty-five pounds of plastic a year (Popescu, 121). The answer to decrease this statistic is easy: recycling. I believe that recycling will help eliminate littering and the growth of landfills, while also creating jobs for the unemployed. Not only does recycling plastic help eliminate littering, but also reuses the plastic so there is not a production of additional unneeded plastics. The
America and Europe are at the top of the list for most waste generated according to Waste (4). This is very visible because there’s litter on every street in the towns and cities, as well in lakes, beaches, and rivers. The book Waste by Rob Bowden states that the amount of waste produced is increasing at a rate faster than population growth. About 1.5 million computers, in the U.K, are thrown away each year and most end up in landfills. There are 3 types of waste which are Municipal Solid Waste, Industrial Waste, and Hazardous waste. MSW includes waste from public garbage cans and local dumpsters. Industrial Waste includes massive amounts of waste water that is contaminated with chemicals. Hazardous waste is the most dangerous as it presents a danger to human health and the environment. Solutions for waste disposal take time because people need to consider their lifestyle and limit the amount of waste they generate. A good start is to recycle items such as paper, cans, plastic, and clothes. This way they don’t end up in landfills, beaches, or streets. Another solution is to join organizations that go around places to recycle, or organizations that demand the reduction in the amount of products that are being
Preserving the environment is very important. One way that would be possible is by recycling. Recycling is the recovery and reprocessing of waste materials for use in new products. There are important environmental and economic benefits connected with recycling. Common materials that are recycled consist of aluminum cans, glass, paper, wood, and plastic (“Recycling”). Cleveland, Ohio joined the ranks of requiring recycling and also fines the homeowners for not disposing of waste correctly or leaving cans out too early or too long (McElroy 1). Michele McCay says that recycling is one of the easiest, most tangible ways of taking action for the planet (par. 1). If that is the case, why is it not required in all states? Recycling should be mandatory because it saves natural resources, it conserves energy, and it reduces pollution.
Wastes are the products of our consumptions in our daily life routines such as lunch, work, school and other things we do. Little things such as throwing out a piece of paper, we are producing waste by the seconds. After we consume a product we usually throw out what’s left that can’t be consumed any further. Results in producing waste, substance that are born after it’s been use or consume by us. At the end of each day we throw out a bag full of garbage, all of the materials in that bag (paper towels, cans, leftover foods and many other material’s) all of these are waste. Hospitals produce medical waste such as use needles for treating patients. Corporations produce papers, plastics, tires, steels, cans and many other type of solid waste which contribute to the pollutions that cause health risk and other environmental issues.