Why buy ethical electronics

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  • Telephones are made from as many as 42 different minerals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, aluminum, beryllium, gold, limestone, and silver (1)

  • The average PC requires 240 kilos of fossil fuels and 22 kilos of chemicals to produce (2)  Mining these minerals is dirty business (3)

  • Brominated flame retardants are toxic and hormone disrupting - and commonly used in electronic products. They build up in our bodies and have been found in people all over the world (4)

  • Exposure to extremely small doses of brominated flame retardants at critical stages in our lives can damage reproductive systems and cause deficits in, for example, learning and coordination skills (5)

  • Electronic waste is the most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. We produce about 40 million tons of e-waste every year. The same as throwing out 800 laptops every single second.

  • Much e-waste is exported to the third world. The soil of the Chinese e-waste site “Guiyu” contain some of the world’s highest concentrations of dioxins and heavy metals. Many children work here (6)

  • E-waste workers are paid as little as 1.50 US dollars per day for unprotected work with toxics that make them sick (6)

  • The effects of e-waste: Birth defects, damage to central and peripheral nervous systems; distorted blood composition; damaged lungs, livers, and kidneys; and death (6)

  • Report claims that the world's largest technology companies, including Apple, HP and Dell, have created a network of "electronic sweatshops" in China and should bear responsibility for a string of suicides among workers (7).

Videos

Check out the effects of our growing e-waste problem . 

 

How to find green electronics?

Solutions include electronic products without toxics that are designed for upgrade, reuse, and recycling. “Extended producer responsibility” implies that producers take responsibility for the whole lifecycle of products. Have a look at this guide (8)

 

Sources

  1. http://www.nma.org/statistics/fast_facts.asp#minerals 
  2. http://consumersinternational.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-can-i-dispose-of-my-computer-in.html
  3. http://www.amiiko.com/world/mining
  4. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem/what-s-in-electronic-devices/bfr-pvc-toxic/
  5. http://www.ewg.org/healthyhometips/fireretardants
  6. http://www.ban.org/films/ExportingHarm.html
  7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8652295/Apple-HP-and-Dell-among-companies-responsible-for-electronic-sweatshops-claims-report.html
  8. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up/

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