E-waste

Today’s society is technologically advanced compared to just 20 years ago. We are now having conversations about the possibility of having a paperless society. we are seeing more and more of our classes available online, and we are sending grandma emails instead of writing letters. Our jobs are allowing us to telecommute and most companies would shut down without their intranet. WOW, I can’t even imagine life without my IPhone. But…Just like everything else in life, you can’t have your cake and eat too. E-waste is growing at an alarming rate. We are throwing away our old electronics without even realizing the potential damage they are causing. How will our kids share in the good life if they are buried in piles of old processors and ergonomic keyboards.

Now it wouldn’t be too bad if technology wasn’t advancing so fast that by the time I finish writing this post we may have already moved past the personal computer. However, we are moving along at a pretty good rate. Some of you may think we are doing good by recycling our computers through a place that ships them to poor third world countries. Is that really doing any better for the environment though? Sure it will go to a noble cause and might help the children get a better education. However, what are the environmental laws in the countries that we are sending them to? If our technology is growing fast then that means they are getting more and more of our old stuff. Where does it go when they are done with it? Chances are it goes right into the street, or drinking water, or some field. There are not a lot of e recycling centers in Ghana. If you are sending your computer to a recycling center that promises re-use, check up on their policy. We don’t want to be living the good life at the cost of another.

It doesn’t stop there. What about the power it takes to operate our computers? Now, I’m not going to argue about global warming, or global cooling here, I’ll save that for another day. But I am concerned about the energy use. It doesn’t have to be any type of environmental cause for me to be concerned about my breathing air. It’s a fact that a lot of our energy comes from coal which you can argue might be “clean”. It still produces some sort of air pollution. In fact, In 2006, data centers consumed a total of 61 billion kilowatt hours, or 1.5% of the total electricity used in the United States according to the EPA. that means that every time you Google “how to pick up hot chicks” you are using energy. Data Centers are not only using the energy to run the machine’s, but the cooling systems used to keep them from cooking. cooling systems are a very big portion of data centers costs. I don’t mean to pick on Google (in fact they are doing a lot to lessen their electricity usages) but you get my point. It’s not just search engines that have huge warehouses of computers. Hosting companies that get your web site, and mine on the Internet are big time energy users as well.

there are some companies out there that are helping us live the good life and are conscious about their impact. When looking for a web hosting provider or email service, check to see if they have a green policy. There are sites like Hostgator that proudly show that they are trying to do right by keeping their electricity down or are buying into carbon credits. Carbon credits are kind of a chicken way out, but sometimes that’s all a company can do.

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