Somewhere between 1.5 and 1.9 million tons of computers, TVs, cell phones, monitors, and VCRs will be discarded in the US in the next year according to Chris Carroll. HOLY CRAP. That is a lot of garbage. What is even more shocking is what we do with our garbage. We just toss it in landfills or send it back to the manufacturer. This raises the question: Why are we so lazy? It doesn’t matter that there are valuable materials in our so called “garbage” or that there are toxins in them that can find their way into our ground water and make us sick. It doesn’t even concern us that we are doing this illegally, all we are concerned about, it seems like, is disposing of these materials with the least amount of effort. It’s more disgusting than a landfill. I was really surprised that this kind of dumping occurs all over the world and is starting to become a serious problem in technologically driven nations like China. The fact that if you’re responsible and dispose of your used computers, DVD players, etc. to a company who handles the recycling, doesn’t mean that the company will be as responsible is absolutely infuriating. When I read the section about how people harvest scrap from these machines illegally, and about the damage this causes to themselves and the environment, I just thought, “Why don’t we have factories in which all of these machines and their parts are recycled properly?” It makes more sense than simply dumping them in landfills. Creating factories that recycle used computers would, in turn, create jobs and stimulate the economy. Not to mention, make us and where we live healthier. So, why are we so lazy?
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