Before covering this topic in class the idea of what happens to our old electronics never crossed my mind.  I was pretty shocked to see what is being done with our e-waste.  I think that shipping it overseas is completely wrong.  The low class peoplen that have to deal with our waste just to find a few pieces of metal to make a living do not deserve the negative health affect that the get from this process.  I think that our government needs to take stronger action on what is done with our e-waste.

I think that it is terrible that things like this happen. i think that what people really need to focus on now is making things that are more enviromentaly friendly. if we can make a computer that is enviromentaly friendly would we be able to distribute it and would we be able to produce it effcentaly.

It's pretty sobering when you realize what our culture of consumption is costing the Earth. We have been told for so long that if we spend money and buy things we will be happy. But we have to buy lots of things, and when something newer comes along we should buy those thing and throw away the old. Now we find out that our waste is shipped across the globe and dumped somewhere where the desperate can pick through it. In the process they are killing themselves and the planet. And what about the energy we spend on these things? Most of the electronics come from the other side of the world, then we put them trucks and drive them to our superstores. From there we pick them up in our SUVs, drive them home and plug them in. When something better comes along we throw them out, someone drives them to a "recycling" center and then they get shipped back across the ocean again. Talk about a waste of energy. At least we have our shiny new Widgets.

We currently live in a world that is entirely driven by technology. We use our cell phones to surf the net, GPS navigation systems to find our way one town over from us, laptops at a McDonald's that has Wi-Fi, Blue ray dvd players, etc. The list of technological devices we have is unending. We will continue to come up with the newest, most cutting edge technology which is convenient and great at the time. Once new technology comes out then we need to dump our Motorola Razrs, VCRs, Sony Discmans, 2 gb mp3 players (since 2 gbs doesn't seem to be enough anymore). All these old, and in most cases still probably usable, devices are thrown out to a place that we think is taking care of it.
Little did I know, that these recycling centers were pawning them off onto other people. Making the disposal of these devices someone else's problem. I'm jumping on the "I had no idea," bandwagon because I really had no idea that any of this was going on. By giving your devices to a recycling center you are trusting they are doing the right thing with them. To tell you the truth, I never even thought about what happens with an old electronic device after I dispose of it. I think in a world that is so technologically driven, it is crucial to invent new ways on making these devices eco-friendly. If we can create the iPhone, Blue-Ray DVD players, High Definition Plasma TVs, etc...then why can't we think of what happens after our models become outdated and need to be upgraded? We need to be more cognizant of the hazardous materials that are put into these electronic devices and start coming up with ways to make them more eco-friendly.

It really is crazy to think about how all the advances in technology have made an even bigger problem with e-waste.  The people who are extracting the poisons and metals in our garbage have no idea of the harm that it is doing to their body, in most cases they can't worry about it because they need the money.  Many people think that they are doing a good thing and recycling their e-waste, but in reality most of it end up over seas killing people? Thats not right at all.  People need to understand that this isnt just the air that those poor workers are breathing in, it is also the same air we breathe in.

I never really thought that the recycling companies wouldn’t dispose of the waste properly until I saw that video. I guess I always took for granted that they would do the right thing. It’s disturbing that they would send it overseas illegally just to save some money. The most shocking thing in the video was that people can contain personal information from used hard drives. When you think everything is deleted off your computer, it still is actually there. This just shows how easy and quick fraud could happen.

As I skimmed through some of the comments to this blog I noticed a pattern: "I had no idea." I, too, join in in saying, "I had no idea." It is a scary thought to think others are harming their lives as well as several others to make money. And even though they are aware of such hazards, money takes the lead. Most of us might question why these people, with the knowledge they have of this "business," continue to severely risk lives just for money. How can they do such a thing both morally and physically? But, why can't the question be, "how can we prevent this?" I know this question is cliche, but, like I said before, most of us had no idea about e-waste...and there's only about 20 of us on here who have admitted that so far. Imagine if a poll was taken around the US. There would be so many clueless citizens on this topic. E-waste is a big issue, but due to lack of knowledge (among other reasons I'm sure), it is belittled in a way. This is a subject that needs to reach everyone possible. If the e-waste issue arose like water or air pollution did, maybe things would start to change. Perhaps stricter laws would be enforced, or people would dispose of electronics properly, or, better yet, people and society would cut down on the demand for electronics. It's a sad thing that most are blissfully unaware of such an issue, but perhaps there needs to be an outcry for an e-waste change.

I was extremely disturbed and affected by the clip that we watched in Environmental Geoscience on E-waste.  I am ashamed to say that I was unaware of this before seeing the clip.  I am disgusted that being a part of one of the most wealthy and developed nations in the world that we would be taking part in such a completely destructive and immoral cycle.  What is worse is that the future of this seems bleak to me because our economy works in a manner that disregards long-term overall.  As a society we look for the next best and quickest benefit for ourselves, even at the cost of others.  I am happy to hear though, that Minnesota is one of the few leading efforts in reversing these actions.  I have just realized that its interesting what happens to ethics and morality when it comes to large amounts of people caught up in technological growth.  I was not the biggest supporter of an increasingly technological world before, and this just makes me even more sure that I dont think that its in the equation of solving our problems. 

 Prior to reading this post I didn't know much information on e-waste. I know that my family has recycled our previous family computers through a venue which takes salvageable parts from it and recycles them. This is a serious issue considering the technological age we are in. Making electronics with more environmentally safe products is not only of significance to the planet but also the individuals who work with the products on a day-to-day basis. It definitely causes me to think about the way I choose to recycle my old electronics. I know I have donated our family has donated old cell phones to the women's resource center. This article brings awareness to the waste beyond trash.

Like most waste problems, e-waste is ever increasing.  As newer models of electronics come out faster than ever, older ones are discarded at an equal rate.  But what can be done?  I believe that this e-waste problem needs to be approached like any other of our waste problems.  Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  The three basic Rs.  Although this may seem to be a broad, obvious and elementary statement to solving our problems it is indeed the only way to go.  It is illogical to assume that our country can stop the production and disposal of e-waste, so the only answer to the problem is to better deal with the way we handle this waste.  The problem cannot be solely solved by the application of any one of the Rs listed above.  It has to be a collaboration of all three working together.  Reduce. People must reduce their use and desire for the “new” hot gadgets and use their older ones longer.  Reuse. Many unwanted old electronics that aren’t broken can be donated or sold for cheap to less fortunate people who are glad to have any electronics.  Recycle.  If an electronic device is broken and no longer works it is important to recycle that item appropriately.  Although some recycling practices may not deal with e-waste correctly most do and it is important to bring your e-waste to them and not discard it in your average trash.  Another R that is not involved in the famous three, but what I believe to be an important one, is redesign.  This can be equally as important as the others, especially when dealing with e-waste.  It would be highly valuable to redesign our electronics with fewer environmentally damaging chemicals and materials.  This would help deal with the environmentally degrading effects of e-waste disposal in the future.  But until then, try and do your part with e-waste and reduce, reuse and recycle.

I had no idea that there were so many harmful things inside our electronics.  When i throw away my electronic items, I usually give the larger ones to my parents to discard and I just throw away everything else.  I think that it would be a good idea to make electronics with less hazardous materials.  If we did this to begin with, then it wouldn't be such of a hassle to throw these things away. 
 I agree with the Minnesota Electronics Recycling Act.  The companies who make these products should be in charge of disposing of them.  But for now, there are other things that we can do with our used electronics.  I found a site that tells you where you can donate your old electronics.
http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/materials/ecycling/donate.htm
If we all donated these things instead of throwing them away and possibly harming the environment and ourselves, it could be a start of something good.

After reading this article, and seeing the videos that were shown in class, it makes me wonder what Winona State does with it's old computers. Each semester lots of laptops are retired, and I know they aren't all purchased by graduating students. I really hope that our university makes an effort to recycle these items responsibly. I wish it were easier to dispose of these toxic items. Is it really necessary that our computers contain lead, PCB's and chromium?
My parents have several old electronics laying around. Now that I  know the problems associated with getting rid of these items, I'll definitely do some research and make sure that they are recycled with a good company. I don't want my toxic e-waste polluting China.

 In class, we watched the videos that went undercover to show exactly what was happening to our E-waste. It's very disturbing about how much about it we don't know when we recycle used products to a company we "think" will recycle properly. However, something else that caught my attention was that in one of the videos, they showed that the hard-drives that people throw out from their old computer was shown to boot back up and be able to trace every file that was originally on it, even if the consumer thought they deleted everything from it. Legal files, credit card numbers or virtually anything personal that you don't want anyone else to see is for someone else's taking. Now, this got me thinking about these computers that we use here at Winona State. I really don't know how this works, but are they among the millions of computers being shipped across seas to countries for the hard-drives to be in someone else's possession? It makes me nervous about being the next victim of identity fraud. I would like to know if it is okay to trust what Winona's doing with their computers.

 Knowing what I know now about the state of electronic waste in America, it is a disgrace and a slap in the face that companies are o.k. with such atrocities.  Being one of the wealthiest and most technilogically advanced nations in the world, we should be leading the way in recycling if not just cleaning up our own mess. There are successful e-waste recycling plants in other nations so it is time for America to clean up our own act.  It is our responsibility to construct and use these environmentally friendly plants, and to restructure the way we produce our electronic goods.  There is no limit to the innovation that the American people are capable of and it is time to put these into practice.

Not only do the videos and this topic raise alarm for the environment, but they also bring to light the serious health implications on many underdeveloped nations. The toxic fumes, chemical runoff, and physical breakdown of plastics are serious hazards to millions of people who work in these conditions or live nearby. It suprises me that the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) hasn't stepped up to combat this issue and support clean up operations worldwide. The amount of toxins entering human bodies are either lethal or cause serious deformities in newborn children of mothers who are exposed to this kind of work. The ramifications of these health risks are going to destroy future generations if we don't do something about it now.
Besides the health risks for millions of people who are in direct contact with the operation, there are also secondary health risks of people farther away as they are exposed to the toxins that are transported through watersheds and plant growth. Nutrients entering the soils will sometimes latch on to the topsoil or the plants in the area, and removing such toxins from the soils is difficult, and sometimes impossible. Geochemically speaking, the restoration of polluted land poses a huge problem for future generations. Some of this land may now be forever destroyed. With what little resources we have, putting these toxins into the world is possibly one of the worst things that we could do to our environment.
Based on these two aspects, I think that the United Nations must hear this call for action to combat the growing problem. There is no reason to stand idle and watch us destroy cultures and the land on which they live.

Interesting topic.  I never really though about where companies that recycle electronics send them to.  Hopefully someone can develop something more environmentally friendly.  Hopefully the dismantling by poor people can stop and instead done by a machine.  I agree that it is troubling people would have such a disreguard for others.  I hope that stops in the future and a solution is found.