The Dangers of E-Waste

now that looks dangerous

I would like to repost your article, please let me know if this will be ok...

Do you also know the dangers of Plastic Bottles to the environment this is a growing problem also. I think it all goes back to the amount people recycle (which is good) and now the lack of recycling plants. As a result the bottles etc are just finding there way to landfill sites and left to decompose which take years. Visit www.freshwatercoolers.com to view this article

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Please also see Glocal Eco at http://wp.me/pIHpP-3P for info on e-waste, and with some striking images too.

Part of the problem with e-waste is the lack of education (i.e. in general, most people are not even aware of what can/should be recycled or where it can be recycled) and a lack of convenience. We need to find a way to make it easy, convenient and well-known what to recycle and where to recycle it. Melissa http://www.earthfriendlybuys.com

Nice Article. It is unfortunately a growing problem, and we cannot just rely on governments to regulate in order to solve the problem, although India and China have tightened their laws to ban the import of e-waste, there are still cases of people smuggling e-waste across the borders illegally. Educating consumers is an important step, but in order to reduce the E-waste problem, there needs to be an easy way for people to access recycling services. Unfortunately some manufacturers still see this as a cost they wish to avoid. There are more and more services available to businesses, but it is the consumer programs that have a long way to go. How many monitors or TV's do you see dumped on the side of the road?? Retailers and manufacturers need to collectively come up with a solution that makes it easy for consumers to recycle their electronic waste, but they also need to see some benefit from offering this service, as today there are still significant costs involved to properly recycle e-waste. Perhaps a new product rating system which not only looks at energy efficiency, but the "whole of lifecycle" approach, which gives credit to those companies that do the right thing and offer a take-back service, helping consumers choose those products over the ones who dont. Looking forward to reading more of your posts. http://www.thecarminegroup.com

Interesting article. Unfortunately businesses/organizations hardly look at re-using hardware / electronics specifically in Europe, but immediately buy new products. By re-using electronics, the life time of a product is increased enormously, which will reduce the amount of cumulative E-Waste dramatically. The topic of Sustainable Materials Management is getting more and more important in Europe. Not looking at the fact of the enormous created carbon footprint of the supply chain (materials, production and worldwide logistics) of producing new electronics products. By re-using products we do not have to produce new products and decrease the related negative impact on the environment. To know more about the positive impact on the environment of reusing hardware: http://www.durabilit.com Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Interesting article. Unfortunately businesses/organizations hardly look at re-using hardware / electronics specifically in Europe, but immediately buy new products. By re-using electronics, the life time of a product is increased enormously, which will reduce the amount of cumulative E-Waste dramatically. The topic of Sustainable Materials Management is getting more and more important in Europe. Not looking at the fact of the enormous created carbon footprint of the supply chain (materials, production and worldwide logistics) of producing new electronics products. By re-using products we do not have to produce new products and decrease the related negative impact on the environment. To know more about the positive impact on the environment of reusing hardware: http://www.durabilit.com Greetings from Amsterdam, Europe, The Netherlands.

While some of believe that recycling, reusing and reducing items are very useful, there are those who think that recycling takes time as well as money from people. It may be true that recycling plants claim that they contribute to that conservation of our environment - and this can also be true - but let us bear in mind that whatever we may decide to do, as long as it is helping reduce our waste and educating the future generation, then let us do our part. I also read another interesting piece on recycling that others might find informative at: http://www.dezeen.com/2008/05/14/one-day-paper-waste-by-jens-praet/