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Agbogbloshie: The World's Largest e-Waste Dump

Posted by samzenpus on from the put-that-anywhere dept.

kc123 writes "Photographer Kevin McElvaney documents Agbogbloshie, a former wetland in Accra, Ghana, which is home to the world's largest e-waste dumping site. Boys and young men smash devices to get to the metals, especially copper. Injuries, such as burns, untreated wounds, eye damage, lung and back problems, go hand in hand with chronic nausea, anorexia, debilitating headaches and respiratory problems. Most workers die from cancer in their 20s."

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Most workers die from cancer in their 20s by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If any statement needs a fact checking, that one does. I call bullshit.

  2. this should be illegal. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm sorry it should not be legal to enable the killing of others!

  3. Re:What's the point of this? by FictionPimp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It could inspire us to support companies that actually do recycling rather than dumping. It could inspire you to pay to recycle your phone rather than toss it in the trash. It could inspire you to push for consumer options that create less e-waste. It could inspire you to donate to a research project or start one to find a industrial use for e-waste.

    It could even just be simply to inform you that people are suffering because of greed. News does not always need you to take action. Sometimes its purpose is just to inform.

  4. Re:What's the point of this? by Garridan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Right... so... you want to be sheltered from the worst news from the unprivileged, because you feel powerless to stop it? Tell that to the people in that situation, with significantly less power to stop it! Yes! Let's not talk about the bad things in the world unless the newspiece has a button that you can personally click to solve that problem. That's exactly how problem-solving works. Who knows why the press never thought of that!

  5. Re:What's the point of this? by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, that would have been a very good message to give, had they listed ANY reputable companies as alternatives. This article gives practically no information. Other than photo captions, the slashdot "summary" is actually LONGER than the entire article.

    This is nothing more than a heart-string sensationalist article to up their viewership. Had the author actually cared about these people they would have listed the companies responsible for this crap, and the reputable companies that actually recycle the materials properly instead of literally putting the people on little monitor-soapboxes (yes literally, check out the photos) and adding sad captions like some twisted version of lolcats.

  6. Re:I try to do the right thing by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    American-looking PC chassis

    As opposed to the foreign-looking ones they have in other countries?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.