Environmentalists Who Ignore Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Are Part of The Problem, Not The Solution.

By B.N. Frank

I already wrote an article about E-Waste which was posted on March 9, 2018, “Technology Can Be Beneficial, But Short Life Spans and “Planned Obsolescence” is Not Beneficial to Our Wallets or The Environment.”  

Since then, I’ve collected a couple dozen more links about it (see list at end of article).

Technology can be great.  It can save lives.  But many already seem to agree that it’s been overused and this has been backfiring on all of us for a while now and in ways other than E-Waste.

Regardless, it seems that wireless and electronic devices have been and will likely continue to be deliberately designed and manufactured to have short life spans.  This is referred to as “Planned Obsolescence.”

Planned Obsolescence allows the Tech Industry to generate new income by making products that have to be replaced quickly.  It is highly unlikely they will stop doing this on their own.  The Tech Industry is now more commonly being referred to as “Big Wireless” and being compared to “Big Tobacco” and “Big Oil.”  Most of us know that’s not a good thing.

More products are continuing to be made and marketed for things that we don’t need despite the fact that they have the potential to harm us as well as violate our privacy.  The list is long and sometimes freaky.  New products include Virtual Reality “Wellness” products for seniors, more digital, wireless and electronic toys for children, “Smart” homes, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).  “Smart Cities” are also being promoted as trendy, cool, and good for the economy.

Many of us have already been forced accept some “Planned Obsolescence” products.  That is the case with digital and wireless utility “Smart” meters.

I have not heard about any environmental groups bothering to check how many of these burnt, broken, and obsolete meters and their components end up in landfills.  Have you?

Some environmentalists promote these meters as being “energy efficient” as well.  This has also been heavily debated.  Has anyone even actually been able to prove that they are “energy efficient?”  After all, utility “Smart” meters require more electricity and infrastructure to work than original analog meters did.  Who again pays for the research that allows utility “smart” meters to be promoted as beneficial to customers and “eco-friendly?”

Our “Throwaway Culture” is the new norm and much of that is not our choice.  It is Planned Obsolescence.

Environmentalists who shame us for contributing to landfills without addressing E-Waste are a big part of the problem.  How much “e-Waste” is contributing to Climate Change depends on who you ask and who is paying for their opinions.  This can be said about everything regarding new technology.

Even if you don’t care about the environment, you’re still paying for planned obsolescence for products that you don’t need but have been forced to accept such as digital and wireless utility “Smart” meters.

New technology is often being made by exploiting citizens of less fortunate countries.  This includes very young children.

If tech inventors don’t need all this new technology, why do we?  These inventors who originally designed many personal tech devices have been sending their kids to private “low tech” schools and limiting the amount of time their children’s exposure to technology in their homes.  So even though the rest of us have been told that these products are necessary to educate other people’s children, tech inventors’ kids still don’t seem to need it.

The current “race” for 5G technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) will create even more E-Waste.  IoT has an approximate 75% failure rate with millions already being hacked.  How much of these failed components do you think have ended up in landfills?

According to many sources, including Dr. Oz, 5G and IoT is being promoted and forced by our elected officials and Telecom Companies as being good for Americans because it will enable us to “binge-watch, surf, and post online” without the threat of our screens freezing up or being disconnected.  Why do we need this?

Many new personal tech products seem to be more trouble than they’re worth even to those trying to recycle them and keep them out of landfills.

E-Waste is contributing to air, soil, and water pollution everywhere.  This makes it an environmental issue.

Many environmentalists are continuing to promote utility “Smart” Meters as beneficial despite their short life spans.  Some aren’t talking about them or any other sources of E-Waste at all.  One might conclude this “taking a blind eye” to all of it as “lies of omission.”

Marvin Gaye, 1971:

I just want to ask a question
Who really cares?
To save a world in despair
There’ll come a time, when the world won’t be singin’
Flowers won’t grow, bells won’t be ringin’
Who really cares?
Who’s willing to try to save a world
That’s destined to die

To learn more about E-Waste, visit the following links:

• Better Technology Isn’t The Solution To Ecological Collapse
• Engstrom: Paper is greener than computer technology
• Toxic tablets the US, that leads the charts in terms of producing e-waste,
• A Shocking Amount of E-Waste Recycling Is a Complete Sham
• Space Debris from falling Chinese space station could land in southern Michigan
• US needs to wake up to China’s environmental protection
• China-made mobile phone cases contain high levels of toxic, carcinogenic substances
• Industry agrees it is time to tackle off-grid solar electronic waste, Off-grid solar waste has a negative value
• Study shows smartphones harm the environment
• An end to electronic waste: United Nations organisations highlight their commitment 
•  Houston, we have a space junk problem
• Govt relaxes e-waste rules as deadline looms
• U.S. Asks China to ‘Immediately Halt’ Ban on Foreign Waste
• Watch a Tiny Manhattan Rise from Hundreds of Recycled Electronics Parts
• Can we fix it? The repair cafes waging war on throwaway culture
• California Right to Repair Cell Phones Bill
• Cell phones E-Waste Right to Repair.  If it breaks, don’t fix it:  consumers face uphill battle for right to repair
• An eco-friendly alternative to recycling e-waste
• I Know We Can Make It: Clinging To Conservation Progress In Hard Times  
• E-waste cure? Doctors use old iPhones for brain surgery
• High amounts of heavy metals in ground water in Delhi’s Krishna Vihar
• Exposing the Power Vampires in Self-Driving Cars
• E-waste environmental and information security threat: GCC countries vulnerabilities
• Pulling valuable metals from e-waste makes financial sense
• New Technique Extracts Gold From Discarded SIM Cards As $20 Billion A Year Is Thrown Away As E-Waste