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Recycling The First World, in the Third
simoncito writes "Ever wondered where that old useless printer ended up? BBC has a photo report about chinese villagers building ramshackle systems out of used and discarded first world computer parts. The effects on their surroundings are drastic - I never knew hardware was so poisonous." Worth a look if you aren't desensitized to suffering.
Anyone know the proper way to dispose of a monitor?
The proper way to dispose of a working monitor is to give it to someone who needs one. The proper way to dispose of a non-working or obsolete monitor or television is to take it to a computer recycling center, who can safely crush the CRT and dispose of the toxic plastic and electronics.
--z
In Soviet Russia, the Beowulf cluster imagines you!
Alang is a small stretch of beach along the coast of India where a surprising number of ships are eventually scrapped. Instead of a dry dock, the ships are rammed full speed into the oily beach, then are picked over by workers for scrap. There are 35,000 men ripping apart the things with hammers and sledges. The welders use oxygen and cooking propane, the most skilled of them getting the choice assignment of ventilating fuel tanks to get rid of the fumes (yes, the welders ventilate the explosive fumes). The place is a filthy mess of pollution and there's an estimated fatality a day. By all estimates, it's basically Hell on Earth.
I read about this in an article in the Atlantic Monthly (Aug 2000). The piece detailed the horrible conditions, the economic motivation (wrecking a ship filled with toxic waste is an expensive proposition here in the West), and the efforts of enviromental groups to put a stop to it. But the real eye opener was the reaction of the Indians.
Many were pissed that the industrialized world wanted to stop the wrecking and considered such efforts hypocritical. They are not stupid and they know the risks they're facing. They are more than willing to take those risks for steady, reliable income. Many of them point to the pollution and conditions in Dehli that are worse than at Alang. They laugh at what concerns Greenpeace in their tidy offices in London and Holland.
Do I think it's wrong to ship toxic waste to these countries instead of taking care of it at home? Yes. Should I condemn people who are not really that much different from Americans during the Depression from trying to get by? No. These things are never black and white.
[/rant]
PS: I have heard that some regulation has come to Alang and other wrecking operations of late, so my Atlantic Monthly article is likely out of date. Apologies in advance. Also, I found two stories online about the issue: in Wired and The Baltimore Sun. I have not read them all the way through, though, and highly recommend the dead tree version of the Monthly piece if you can find it.
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
I can't tell if you're trolling or not but since I've seen a couple of comments here that seem to agree with your position, I feel the need to reply.
As for the enviornmental concerns, last time I looked China wasn't the 51st state. If their government can't control it then it's their problem not ours.
You're a little heartless, aren't you? "Hey, if it's not my fault, I don't wanna hear about it." These people are suffering. Doesn't that mean anything to you? And as far as the thought that environmental concerns outside of the US isn't our concern, what do you say about the chemicals that are being released into the atmosphere when they burn all that stuff? Toxins don't respect international boundaries.
Amazing how America can be portrayed as the bad guy all around the world.
I didn't see anything in the article specifically pointing the blame finger at the US. But it's worth noting that we are making this problem worse with our throw-away society. I would wager that the average American buys a new computer every 3-4 years. And they don't just buy a new processor and more memory, they buy a whole new friggin' computer! New keyboard, new motherboard, new monitor, new printer, etc. even though their old one is still functioning. If more people would simply buy what they need instead of being lazy and buying the package deal they get from Dell or Gateway, there wouldn't be so much hazardous computer trash to get rid of. Hell, even if you don't want to deal with the hastle of installing your own components into your old motherboard, just tell Dell or Gateway that you don't want the monitor. If they say "No, you have to buy the monitor as well!" you say "No, I dont. I'm leaving." No one is forcing you to add to the waste problem of the world.
Face facts, if you're stupid enough to inhale fumes from PC parts you're burning you should be dead. Those who don't die make money.
Did you read the article? These people have the equivalent of a few years of schooling at most. How many American elementary school kids do you think realize how much toxic stuff is in computers? These people don't have the education or knowledge to realize what they're doing. And even if they did, these people are desperate for a job. I'm sure that you, sitting at your computer munching away at a jelly donut or gulping down a SuperSize McDonald's meal don't fully realize how desperate one can be when you have a choice between a job that gives you headaches or watching your family starve to death.
If you don't like where you live ... move. It's like Sam Kinnison used to say, "You live in a freaking desert. Move."
Again, these people don't have any money. It takes money to start a new life. And where the hell do you suggest they go? Oh, that's right: this isn't your problem. As for the Kinnison quote, keep in mind that he was a comedian. You're not supposed to live your life in accordance with his routine.
I suspect America is "portrayed as the bad guy all around the world" because of awful human beings such as yourself who openly laugh at the less fortunate.
GMD
watch this
Hey, good point. While you're at it, why not gloat over the fact that your accident of birth in the United States (I'm guessing) instead of, say, Thailand means that you have the money and the power to purchase the virginity of a 13-year old in Bangkok?
Seriously though: think about it. Capital is no substitute for morality, and just because the "market will bear" your exploitation of other human beings doesn't mean you have the right.
-Renard
Well, the reason why the U.S. is the #1 industrialized nation, and China is not, has little to do with the horrible working conditions described here. Perhaps I'm missing your sarcasm.
The problem here, as it always is, is poverty. The reason why people choose to work in horrible conditions is because they don't have a better alternative available, in their own estimation. Americans have a powerful tendency to project their own values and choices onto others without a realistic appraisal of the situation. For example, when we crack down on "third world" sweatshops (in itself a slightly racist term, IMHO), net effect is that all these children who were working in horrible conditions are fired. Of course we would prefer that the children be going to school, or just about anything more healthy for a child than working. But if nothing more attractive is available, these people migrate to a less desirable, and less visible means of supporting themselves.
In this country, we've decided that some things are not to be held open as options, no matter how horrible the alternative. I tend to say that what I see in this photo article should be stopped, but I do wonder if I'm not assuming options that would be available here are available there, when that's not necessarily true.
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.