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- About Me:
- Hello! Welcome to my webpage! I'm Vanessa and I'm pursuing an associate degree in computer science. I believe that technology makes the world go faster and easier, but I see its devastating impact on our environment: the increasing growth of electronic waste, the hazardous chemical these waste releases, and the higher risks of making people suffer from illnesses. As we progress, the new inventions become yesterday and the used ones just get dumped anywhere which would affect our health and the environment. Yes, computers are reliable for easier access to millions or even billions of information, but some people do not realize that they are slowly destroying our world by improperly throwing unneccessary trash such as computer, phones, ipod, or whatever gadget they got tired of already. There is a tremendous growth of e-waste going on in China, India, Ghana, and other developing countries out there who needs our help to reduce these wastes. High technology is very useful for our life development, but we have to take in mind that these gadgets are reusable and needs to be recycled. As a student, I will try to find ways to reuse and recycle these machines so we can make this world live longer.
- My Home Country:
- Philippines
- Organizing an Earth Day Event This Year?
- No - But I'd like to participate
- My Environmental Interest(s) (Climate Change, Solid Waste, etc.):
- Conserving and Recycling
Vanessa's Photos
Vanessa's Videos
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"The Story of Stuff"
Added by Vanessa
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e-waste is flooding the world
Added by Vanessa
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People demand things, and when they get tired of it they discard them. Some things should be recycled as they cause waste problem in our environment. The biggest waste we are facing in this generation are electronics. Markets produce more than what the people need which leads to accumulation of unused products. Sometimes people dump their old ones and get new ones which results to more waste problem. As the world gets more high tech and digitized, creative thinkers improve and produce more machines which lead to human health risk, climate changes, environmental impact. This is the point where our neatness decline because everyone wants to have a more improved and better looking electronic gadget. The world is "disheveled in fashion; neatness is obsolete." (Cousins 78) We demand more things but when those things reached its end, they just go to landfills, charity donations, and scrap workers which make electronic waste grow faster than you can imagine.
One of the most infected country is India, where most computer used by America are transported there for recycling. The people there take out parts manually, not using any machines, and they are exposed chemicals produced by these machines which can harm their health. It’s dangerous for them, but they have no choice because that’s how they live and all these waste keeps on expanding. It doesn’t get lesser because products are made everday for business. In other countries, like China, you could see some parts of their place dumped with wired, cables, electronic wastes which is on an open space; Children are exposed to these hazardaous chemicals they breathe and they pose dangerous health risk.(Greenpeace 1)
People are not the only ones who are reacting to these wastes, the earth is also affected which causes natural phenomenas. Typhoon, floods, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, or other natural disasters we are witnessing, are connected to the trashes we make. They come in the form of harmful substances forming beneath the soils, with the water, and in the air we breathe.
Early people do not have these devices or gadgets on their days, but they handled every problem by themselves and not through some electronic devices. Sometimes, the more we develop, the more life gets complicated, but people try everything to be part of the society. As Norman Cousin indicates, “We shun on conventionality, but we put on a uniform to do it.” (78) In our society today, what people have or do, people also try to have them and do them. For example, a new advertisement comes out in the tv that a new phone features everything from music, e-mail, to internet; People would want to buy them because its hip, but in reality, you don’t really need phone that have much features, the important thing is that people can call you. People, especially, teenagers don’t want a phone that just answer and call; they want everything, and that’s where people become impractical. People become too lazy to type; to do anything. They just sit there and rely on these machines to do their work while they are not aware they are polluting earth by the waste they leave behind when another one a new product comes out.
In the beginning of the video, a girl was typing on her computer when suddenly, her computer tells her that is has been overloaded, then it malfunctioned. When this happened, she got frustrated and without thinking, immediately threw the monitor with the other used up electronic scraps such as headphone, iron, tv, and lampshade. This scene show us that people throw things over and over again without realizing that they have created a pile of metal jungle in their room. Are you one of them? If you are, you better change that kind of attitude because if you don't, we might end up waking up with these monster scrap haunting us just like the video showed us. These metals, when discarded improperly, could pose high health risks problem because they contain parts that are very dangerous when exposed.
The middle part of the video which shows the girl running from her trash portrays the consequence we get when we abuse the use of these machines. Electronics don't live forever just like humans; They also reach their end-of-life. When these things don't work as what you expected, they end up in our room ready to be disposed. Most of these get dumped faster than before because of the high demands of newer and more improved products. As Dr. Norman Cousins tell us, "If society is breaking down, as it too often appears to be, it is not because we lack the brainpower to meet its demands but because our feelings are so dulled that we don't recognized we have a problem." (Cousins 78) The internet has become the most used medium today that people want to get ahold of this technology and not be concerned about where this machines would end up after they have reached their end.
Lastly, the video in the end showed us a world that was ruined because of the vastly large number of people using the machines and the chunks of scraps accumulated the whole surface of the earth. The last scene showed us the world being swallowed up by computer junks. The ending summarized that "Electronic waste is flooding the earth. The system is about to crash." If we don't take action into recylcing these raw materials, the world would end up into chaos. Delete Comment
The second photo called “crime waste”, which is portrayed in a cartoon strip, shows a person being attached to its own trash he made. This indicated that this person is a criminal of his own waste. The person does not seem guilty of what he did, and he just continue whistling while walking out of his way with the trash attached to his arm like a prisoner. It tells us that he is not concerned what he is dumping to earth; All he cares about is what he contributing to the society even it involves occasional upgrading of the ever changing technology.
The third photo “phones everywhere” shows a vast collection of old mobile phones laying all around. This indicates how much phones people have produced and consumed in this world, and markets still continue innovating more products each day. The world is becoming more and more connected with wires, but people are becoming disconnected with the society for the phones are continuously dominating the human population.
The fourth photo called “phone trash” shows a truck loaded with old phones, all of which are now becoming more obsolete as the technology keeps on advancing. We could see that that these two men are exposed to this electronic scraps, and they are unaware that they are inhaling hazardous chemicals, which is mercury, released from these phones.
The fifth photo called “e-waste recycle” shows an illustration of a recycle logo, but drawn with plugs, which indicates to recycle electronics.
The sixth photo called “hazardous burning” shows a scene of burning and smelting of heavy metals coming from tvs, computer monitors, computer parts, wires, and other electronic scraps. In the scene, a child is seen running around by the burning waste, this innocent child is oblivious of what is happening around him, that what is really happening is that their surrounding is on the brink of environmental destruction because these waste releases dangerous chemicals such brominated flame retardants and PVC plastic.
The seventh photo called “where do e-waste go?” shows abandoned tvs and computers dumped on the street unattended, and people in this neighborhood could be in danger of inhaling toxic waste coming from these refusals. They must be cleaned up and must be thrown appropriately.
The eight photo called “abandoned computers” shows multiple old CRT monitors that are now obsolete. This tells us how fast technology develops while also creating more “e-waste”. If we don’t put a stop to this , the world will be covered with a mountain of toxic waste which will make us all sick.
The ninth photo called “child sitting among the waste” shows a child sitting in a pile of wires from telephones to computers. China has one of the most “e-waste” in the world that there is no escape for the children to breathe in the toxicity the adults have created. What would their world be like after all has been wasted?
“Wasteland” shows a heap of computer monitor and wire junks creating a mountain and almost covering the once clean and green earth.
“Monitors” just shows stacked computers and CPUs in a room, which can be assumed as a factory; All of these which are older and not anymore in use, accumulates almost the whole area. These machines would then be exported to other developing areas such as China and India for second-hand use, but some of them mostly end in dumps and causing more waste problem.