Environmental Issues ~ E-Waste

            E-waste or electronic waste is a widely unrecognized but very important problem with our society. Only in the past while, has society begun to recognize the damage we are doing to our environment but the fight against E-waste is just starting.

            Various sites and articles are out on the internet and in the news attempting to bring this vastly important information to the public. One of the leading groups that is focused on bringing awareness to E-waste and attempting, scientifically, to reduce it is called StEP, which stands for “Solving the E-waste Problem”. Some of the objectives of StEP are: “optimizing the life cycle of electric and electronic equipment”, “increasing utilization of resources and reuse of equipment”, “exercising concern about disparities such as the digital divide between the industrializing and the industrialized countries” and “increasing public, scientific and business knowledge [about E-waste]”. With groups that have goals or similar ones to this on the up rise, the battle against E-waste is becoming more known throughout the world and becoming viewed as an actual problem. Fighting the E-waste with knowledge is the first step to eliminating the problem on our hands.

            Technology advances at such an incredible rate that it is no wonder the epidemic of E-waste seemingly “jumped” on us. Electronic equipment is constantly becoming smaller and more advanced as each day passes and the out of date equipment rapidly becomes obsolete. As a result of this landfills are piling up with mountains of this obsolete technology. Not only does it take up a lot of space the majority of this technology is in fact toxic, which causes a major problem. According to Environment Canada, vast amounts of, this obsolete technology contains substances such as lead, cadmium and mercury which are highly toxic to animals and the environment. Undoubtedly leaking highly toxic materials into the environment is not good. Not only are there toxic materials that shouldn’t be left in landfills, there are highly valuable materials such as aluminum, ferrous metals and copper, which could be recycled. Unfortunately the amount of E-waste recycling programs is still minimal, but on the up side, is growing.