Recycling eWaste – Responsibility for your actions and our world
We all hear about how we need to recycle but is it worth the level of effort that we should put into it? My opinion would be yes but how busy we are in daily lives tends to complicate how much people want to recycle. If someone asked you what could be recycled would you be taking a guess or would you know what can be recycled and where to recycle it at? We can recycle everything we can from electronics to paper to food scraps but the level of effort that it takes can be daunting. Like most of the things in life “you have to want it” to do it effectively. Don’t get me wrong any recycling that you do is great but there are some things that we really need to recycle and be aware of the consequences if we don’t.
Part 1 - Electronics
Ah the wonderful things that we can entertain ourselves with today with the help from a little thing called electricity. The question is what we do with those gadgets once we upgrade, they simply stop working or we no longer have a need for that particular convenience. Or is the real question what happens if we just throw them in the trash?
Mercury – This is a serious problem with the disposal of certain electronic devices. If allowed to breakdown in a landfill mercury can cause serious health hazards for people as well as poisoning anything else that lives close by. Devices that may contain mercury are: Computers, monitors, cell phones, florescent bulbs and tubes, thermostats, Button style batteries and thermometers.
Circuit Boards – The electronic components that that provide the magic of making our electronic come to life are usually soldered to a circuit board. These Circuit boards can contain lead (from the solder), mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals that if left to rot in the trash can leak into our water supply and cause problems for generations to come.
Enclosures - There is a wide variety of materials used to encase our electronic components, these range from plastic to metal. Metal takes a long time to break down and when it has no exposure to the elements like in a landfill it will take even longer. Plastic on the other hand may never fully decompose.
While recycling does take some effort, recycling electronics needs to be a top priority. We all love the modern conveniences that electricity provides for us each day but we need to take responsibility for the disposal of these components as they reach the end of their life or usefulness. If you still need more convincing please take a look at this story http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/60minutes/main4579229.shtml from sixty minutes on how irresponsible disposal of these modern marvels can turn other cultures into a toxic wasteland.
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