Environmental Health News, Week 14: Recycling E-Waste

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This article provides information on how to recycle e-waste materials. These materials include mostly technology, like cell phones, laptops, tablets, televisions, and batteries. I found this article interesting because I myself, like many others in the world, have many products that I have no idea what to do with, once I "upgrade" them. Like the iPhone or a laptop... as a student, I tend to upgrade these things. I'm also a photographer, and I have three DSLR cameras... so this article caught my eye because I was interesting in knowing how to recycle these items I do not use anymore.

We are unable to throw e-waste into the regular garbage (aka landfills) because they have hazardous materials which can be released into the environment and be a problem for the planet as well as for our health. Sometimes, some places or organizations have recycling drives, but the recycler they may be contracted with do not dispose of the items in an environmentally friendly way. This is even true with city governments - the article mentions the City of Houston. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to make sure that the recycler being utilized is a certified E-Steward certified recycler. This will ensure that e-waste is recycled in the proper way.

It is so important to consider how we dispose of things. While we have plastic in mind, we must also be conscious of our e-waste. In this day and age, most everyone has a cellphone or some sort of technology like a camera, a laptop, or a tablet... and often times, we get the newer version in a couple of years. It is just the way society is, and while we may not be able to stop the desire for new things, we can take a responsible way to disposing of the old ones.

Reference:
https://mashable.com/2018/04/26/how-to-recycle-ewaste/#jrkHhj_fUkqB

Comments

  1. Ashley SubramaniApril 26, 2018 at 11:40 PM

    Hi Loren,

    I think it is crucial that we are aware of how we dispose things. I have an old laptop that has been broken for a few years now that I still have not thrown away as I do not want it to end up in a landfill somewhere since it will cause much harm if thrown away irresponsibly. We as a society fail to consider where items go when we throw them away and what harm comes from throwing them away where they will end up in a landfill. More care and caution, especially with electronics and plastics, must be taken into consideration before we just toss them in the trash.

    -Ashley

    ReplyDelete

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