It’s just one of the things that we don’t think about. We throw it out of our homes, wherever it lands has nothing to do with us. Our e-waste or the old computers, mobile phones, telephones, laptops, and other gadgets that we threw away for more modern and updated models. Can you still remember where you disposed them? Do you care where they are now? Most probably they are in China, African or some other developing countries that Western countries use as dump sites of their e-waste.
It may have been dumped in China where recycling e-waste is the main preoccupation of a village called Guiyo. In this village, all people break down the parts of electronic gadgets and pick pieces that can be of used or recycled. They burn the computers to get the gold and other metals that they can sell to local businesses that have need for these metals.
The old computer desktops may have been dumped in this village in South Africa where majority of children and new-born have been discovered to be having lead content in their blood that is way way out of the ordinary and normal.
Even though there is already an international agreement against the dumping of e-waste to developing countries from the developed countries in the late 90’s, it is still done until today. People from the developing countries accept the e-waste of rich countries because recycling e-waste affords them a more comfortable life than being peasants, farmers or fishermen.
But since they are doing it illegally, their health and the environment are taking the toll. The waters near the neighborhoods where they do the recycling are discovered to be very acidic that when they throw coins into it, the coins melt. The burning of the electronic gadget produce toxic levels of air pollution in the area.
Large manufacturers of laptops, desktop computers, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets should do something about this. They are the ones who made them, isn’t it just right that they are the ones to be responsible for the e-waste that they brought?
