Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Marc A. Reynolds - Garden State Green

I can remember it well, I was 19 years old and I had just received my first store credit card. It was a 19" TV that I was after and it was just over $300. And so began my long life of needless spending. The more money I made, the more "stuff" I bought. When I was younger I never really thought about what would become of the stuff once I grew tired of it.

Sometime after the late 1980's electronics became more and more easier to obtain. They were cheaper and there were more choices. The compact disc was a new novelty that we all had to buy, VCRs later gave way to DVDs and now Blu-Ray. Along the way home computers and mobile phones became so cheap that most people could afford them. Instead of repairing electronics, they become disposable.

Once electronics reached the level of being cheaper to buy new then to fix, the problem really started getting out of control. The problem I am referring to is e-waste. Wikipedia explains such waste as Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) this describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices. Environmental groups claim that the informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants. Activists claim that even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste may involve significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes. Scrap industry and USA EPA officials agree that materials should be managed with caution, but that environmental dangers of unused electronics have been exaggerated by groups which benefit from increased regulation.

The impact of where all of this waste winds up is something most people would like to ignore or just not think about. Once you're educated about what's really going on, it gets harder to ignore.   Below is just one video, but there are more like it exposing the truth about where our once "gotta have" items wind up.