Should Third World Countries Pay the Price for Our Technology?
Have you ever recycled your old computers, or sold them to secondhand parts dealers? Do you know what happens to them? Do you know where they end up? For many people the answers to where the old computers go and what happens to them is a mystery. But for others, they know of it and are ignoring the facts. "Everybody knows this is going on, but is just embarrassed and don't really know what to do about it," Smith said. "They would just prefer to ignore it."
Many environmental groups have said that there is a chance that your old computers go to a dump in a developing world. "I've seen a lot of dirty operations in Third World countries, but what was shocking was seeing all this post-consumer waste," said one of the report's authors, Jim Puckett. Where thousands of laborers basically rip apart the electronic waste to get to the precious metals inside. They are exposing themselves and their surroundings to a number of toxic hazards. In this article a report was documented on “cyber-age nightmare” this was where villages in southeastern China were ripping apart computers that still have the labels on them, and they were dumping the scrap metal along rivers and fields. Not only are the computers being sent to third world countries but most of the computers have been used once by us; Americans. I feel as though this is really awful because those computers could’ve been useful for people who don’t have enough money to pay for one or they could’ve been donated to those less fortunate. This portrays Americans as ungrateful and basically wasteful. Investigators, actually visited Guiyu, China where the waste sites occur, they witnessed men, women and children basically dismantling the computers by pulling wires from it and burning them at night; which puts carcinogenic smoke in the air. They also witnessed other laborers, working with little or no protection, burning plastics and circuit boards and poured acid on electronic parts to extract as much silver and gold as they can. In result, the ground water is so polluted that the drinking water has to be brought by trucks from a town 18 miles away. For example, one of the rivers had samples taken, and it had 190 times the pollution levels that are allowed under the World Health Organizational guidelines. Computer waste is becoming a difficult problem, because millions of different devices are being produced faster and faster. One report has said that some in the industry estimate that 50% to 80% of the United States electronic waste that is collected as recycled goods gets shipped out of the country. This involves situations like the dump in Guiyu or the similar ones in India or Pakistan, this is where the labor is cheap, and the laborers make a big deal about trying to salvage every last screw or bit of silver that they can.
Companies are trying to avoid this problem or at least help recycle the electronics in a humane way. Large retailers and a few PC makers have launched recycling programs, and they are requiring consumers to pay an additional charge of $30 to ship their old PC’s themselves. Like the bottle deposit, organizations believe that the cost of recycling computers should be added to the initial cost of the product.
Now that you have been informed on this environmental catastrophe will you help by asking that your recycled electronics are not being shipped out of the country? Do you think this is fair?
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002/02/25/computer-waste.htm
I chose the issue of environmental racism for all of my papers this semester. The fact that old computers and electronics are shipped to third world countries is a serious problem and is not a coincidence either. Environmental racism occurs when toxic waste is put in the areas of society where a vast majority of the residents are minorities, or where the poorer people of society live. Globally, wealthier, developed countries export their waste to poorer, developing nations. Through my own research on the topic, I have found that Dr. Robert Bullard, who has done extensive research for about thirty years on this topic, pointed out that this may be continuing to occur because the poorer people in these areas do not have the knowledge or the opportunities to stand up for themselves in society against this issue.
ReplyDeleteAfter writing all of my papers on this topic, I do not think that it is fair at all that this occurs. People have the mentality that once they ship electronic waste out of the country, it is no longer their problem. However, we should have the mentality that we want to fix this problem, and invest in proper disposal methods for computers and other electronics, rather than letting this problem continue to occur. I think that companies who are starting to include recycling charges into the initial cost of electronics, are taking a step in the right direction. Since this article was written in 2002, I hope that by now, more companies are being proactive about the issue of recycling electronics and hopefully by now there are some stronger regulations.
Lastly, Skyllore mentions how children were even seen ripping apart computers and burning them in China which therefore caused them to be exposed to harmful carcinogens. Through my own research, I found many stories of when children are the victims of environmental racism, and I think that this was one of the saddest aspects. Children should protected by their parents and not be exposed to these things.
I agree with Amanda, Environmental racism is an aspect of social justice that needs to be amended. Although this issue flies under the radar, it certainly provides a case in questioning the ideological correlation between racism and the environment. The matter of environmental racism is affecting third-world countries in a negative way. Shipping older computers and toxic wastes to these countries in many ways shows a motive and belief that these lesser countries should deal with this waste. Also, racism is a main component in this matter as well. These toxic wastes are associated with individuals living in lower economic status. Meaning this waste is an indication of how these minorities in these countries are being treated unequal. You would never see this toxic waste surrounding wealthy societies, because the pollution, toxins, and other unhealthy environmental wastes are extremely damaging and dangerous. Essentially, environmental racism shows how people in third world countries are viewed as inferior human beings. This notion is truly disturbing because it’s ethically immoral. Furthermore, this issue needs to be fixed in order to stop this overlooked prejudiced and save the environment from toxic wastes. With the use of “green” technology these wastes should be recycled and re-used. Keeping the environment cleaner would not only help towards the issue of global warming but also subdue environmental racism. In final, I strongly believe that environmental racism is a serious problem, and if this matter does not get resolved it will only lead to more radical global issues.
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ReplyDeleteBefore reading this post, I was not aware of the magnitude of third world countries being used as ‘dumping grounds’ by the United States. After doing a bit of research, I came across a video about the conditions of the country Ghana. While watching the video, it showed how the conditions in Ghana are so bad due to the digital dumping grounds that the people living in Ghana refer to their Korle Lagoon by the name of ‘Sodom’ and/or ‘Gomorahh’ to represent the slum and wasteland that extends throughout Ghana's towns. The video illustrates how the people literally climb over/drive over various scraps of computers and pieces of metal. For example, mothers sit in front of fire and use the pieces of scrap metal as if it was kindle and then throw the various scraps of metal outside their homes or alongside the riverbanks of Ghana's towns. This surprised me because living in the United States we don’t often see the magnitude in which we are negatively impacting third world countries. A local journalist in Ghana, Mike Anane, reports “Life is really difficult; they eat here, surrounded by e-waste. “They basically are here to earn a living. But you can imagine the health implications.” The local journalist also concludes how many Ghanaians are ‘e-dealers,’ setting up shops to buy/sell junk computer, wires, and scraps of metal. Although Mike Anane does conclude how burning this way is like a 'way of life' for Ghanaians to make money, “Hard drives that can be salvaged are displayed at open-air markets. Off camera, Ghanaians admit that organized criminals sometimes comb through these drives for personal information to use in scams.” In my opinion, I do not think this is fair at all. Dumping grounds are not only harmful to the environment and to your health, but they prove to be a scam--invading and hacking your personal information. I would not want someone looking through my hard drive on the computer and leaking my private information to the world; the United States should not ship electronics out of the country at all.
ReplyDeleteFor more information:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html
I was never aware of the catastrophic effects of e-waste. it amazes me how our technological advancements are benefiting us but hurting other countries who are not as fortunate as us. After reading this post i decided to goggle e-waste and i came upon some interesting things. Im not sure how accurate the data is because i couldn't find the date but it is interesting to know that at some point 4% of the United States total solid waste was e-waste and that is is increasing 3 times as fast as any other waste. This fact alone is alarming especially since technology is advancing so quickly. One positive thing that i found was that since 2001 states are becoming more proactive and starting e-cycling programs. It was also nice to know that in the year 2002 Massachusetts alone had 300 e-cycling programs. E-waste can have hazardous affects and i agree with the author of this post, not many know about this issue and it i important that everyone becomes more aware. Awareness can create change something that needs to happen before the homeland of many is destroyed.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nerc.org/documents/national_electronics_recycling_program_data_2003.html
http://www.epa.gov/region1/solidwaste/electronic/index.html
I always thought that recycling my computers and technology was going to be a benefit to our world and even help supply those less fortunate with more affordable technology. It really saddens me to find out that this is happening. Wealthier countries should not be allowed to take advantage of less developed people. The community in China is doing their best to survive, and clearly trying to do whatever is necessary to do so. The UN or some sort of organization needs to step in to regulate what is going on. These people also probably have health problems from this exposure such as cancer, or in the children’s case get cancer from doing this at a young age. All they are doing is trying to survive and nations like ours are cutting their lives short and making unsafe living conditions. I cannot begin to imagine what this could possibly be like.
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