Americans have managed to dress the gown of “necessity” with a silver lining.
It’s a product of a capitalist economy, aggressive ad-campaigns and the consumer culture we embody — and there’s no doubt it’s taking a toll on the planet. Our culture encourages Americans to think they “need” to buy the latest hybrid or smart phone. If they can’t sell their old hunk of junk, they get rid of it.
When my Dad attended MIT science fairs during his time at Northeastern University in the 1980s, students showcased engines that got 110 miles to the gallon. One paycheck later and those engines forever disappeared from the scientific community.
The idea of a durable product threatens the durability of business itself.
Like many American products, cars depreciate in value. They’re designed to run for a given amount of time before parts start to fail and expensive maintenance bills rack up. This helps keep production costs down and increases the appeal of newer products. It’s a precarious system for the consumer, but a highly profitable model for the producer.
As we’ve entered the digital-information age, technology companies have mastered this production model. While technology advances, companies produce more and more electronics in more and more countries overseas. They use more and more coal to power more and more factories that require more ships to transport more products to more consumers.
And then consumers want more.
Unlike used cars that can be easily resold, used cell phones and computers often cannot. According to Time Magazine, “Americans throw out more than 350,000 cell phones and 130,000 computers every day, making electronic waste the fastest-growing part of the U.S. garbage stream.” Because of a lack of refuse regulation, companies continue to export waste to China, where it rots the most populated area of the earth.
In the recycling hub of Guiyu, China, it’s not uncommon to see middle-aged women burning laptop adapters in acid fires. Rivers of ash pour out of their houses as they bathe circuit boards in chemicals in order to mine lead, gold and copper. Much of the waste from the burning coal ends up in the rivers and canals that poison the wells and groundwater for the cities. It’s no surprise Guiyu has the highest level of cancer-causing dioxins in the world and an elevated rate of miscarriages. And eventually those airborne toxins will make their way back to the U.S.
Ironically, overpopulated China isn’t Guiyu’s biggest e-waste contributor. More than 80 percent of the e-waste in Guiyu comes from countries like the U.S., and strict health guidelines that exist in developing countries are virtually non-existent in China, allowing Guiyu’s e-waste business to thrive. As long as Apple continues to roll out new gadgets every year, Guiyu will continue to give education the shaft and instead teach its youth the latest chemical burning techniques.
Because of strict privacy regulations, all e-waste at the University must be cleansed before it’s disposed of. The same regulations make it difficult for the University to offer any drop boxes for old cell phones or computers, but here in Eugene and Springfield we’re very lucky to have a donation/receiving center called NextStep Recycling.
NextStep started as a Macintosh computer fix-it-and-pass-it-on resource and has grown into a prominent community organization. By selling refurbished computers and cell phones, NextStep empowers and educates low-income and disadvantaged Oregonians who can’t afford the latest technology. They even transition unemployable Oregonians back into the workforce. It’s ecological and economic sustainability at its finest.
NextStep has collections on campus twice a year for old electronics. Donating your e-waste to a reuse center prevents toxin-release in our air, employs locals, and provides a wider range of Americans access to the electronic information students enjoy daily. Additionally, supporting organizations like NextStep increases the political clout of sustainable ideas in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. could stop fueling the e-waste phenomenon if we passed some decent refuse reform. A law prohibiting garbage companies from dumping on the rest of the world would save lives and our planet. If electronics companies were forced to stop using mercury and hazardous materials in their products, e-waste disposal wouldn’t have close to the toll it currently takes on Mother Nature.
Unfortunately, there are some jobs only government can do. Until our leaders step up to the powerful interests of large corporations, we need to take the next step as consumers and demand our electronics use reusable and interchangeable parts. The more you donate and use, the more such a utopian fantasy will become a reality.
Thinking of throwing out that old MacBook? Think again. The well-being of future generations and our planet are depending on it.
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