"The Electronic Wasteland"

[Oathkeeper(:]

"Where do the millions of computer monitors, cell phones and other electronic refuse our society generates end up?"

To answer simply, they end up in China. Millions of "old" computer monitors and electronic devices FROM AMERICA that are supposedly being "recycled" end up in, basically, a landfill where they are harvested for the precious metals inside, but everything else is being burned. This is highly dangerous because of all of the dangerous chemicals inside said computer monitors/electronic devices.
People live in this "wasteland" too, and their blood is laced with lead. They're basically killing themselves.
What's your opinion on this "wasteland"? Why is it that people's attempts at recycling these devices are in vain because of the companies that send these devices overseas?
Discuss.

Here's a link to a pretty short article summing this up:
Electronic Wasteland

If you want more information, google is your friend.

[Stavvy]

Damn you, G4. You and your G-cycle campaign.

Really, I don't care. That's not the SOLE reason a lot of China is messed up. Sure, something should be done, but I'd rather be more concerned about my homefront than anywhere else.

[Oathkeeper(:]

I get what you mean, but I still find it slightly offensive that these so called "recycling" companies wouldn't recycle...
IT JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

[Stavvy]

It does make sense, though. It's cheaper to just throw it in some dump in China than it is to go through the process of recycling.

[Candy Man]

Personally, I'd say the best course of action is to shoot all our garbage into the sun.

Seriously, how would the fumes get to us?

[Oathkeeper(:]

It costs a lot of money to build rockets just to shoot into the sun. If there was an easier and more cost efficient way, then I'd be all for it.
@Stavvy: wouldn't it make more sense to recycle and save money on making new products and just reusing what we already have? O_o

[Stavvy]

wouldn't it make more sense to recycle and save money on making new products and just reusing what we already have? O_o

In the long run? Yes. Short run? No.

Using less money now, seems better, even if it isn't.

[Square Ninja]

This is most likely a product of other countries paying China to take care of junked computers, but China winds up dumping them in landfills.

[Sorax3]

Yea, I think what's happening is something along the lines of what ninja said. They aren't lying until someone broke the process and made it end up in the landfill. Conserning cost, the landfill is the smartest, because of the time and effort put into it v.s. the time and effort put into recycling it or other more eco-friendly methods.

[∞]

Originally Posted by Marksman

Personally, I'd say the best course of action is to shoot all our garbage into the sun.

Seriously, how would the fumes get to us?

It would be ridiculously expensive to get rid of all our waste into the sun, and it'd overall be depleting Earth's resources. Less garbage around now means that there's less stuff that can be melted down or put into effective use in the future.

[Ventux]

People should just go to places like FreeGeek

[Snow]

Using the landfill overall ends up much cheaper, at least for now. The oppression of the less developed countries in such purposes are widespread today. Of course, the most effective and safe method to dispose of these would be by machines, but in comparison, it is far more expensive, especially wealthy industrialists couldn't care less about people dying half the globe away, and the government has better ways to use their resources than to sink it trying to prevent it, cause they have the better end of the bargain.

On the plus side, I suppose it helps China's attempts at population control.

[Leonard]

This isn't really something that new, especially when you hear about some of the other unbelieveable living standards that some people have to bear in those countries.
In the end it always kind of seems like the same situation: the people who are in charge or who could change the situation just don't give a shit most of the time.

Originally Posted by grimmedslug

On the plus side, I suppose it helps China's attempts at population control.

Not really. They don't die instantly, the process just gets hastened and possibly more agonizing.

[Snow]

Still, a family tree is cut off. It'll probably be as effective as dropping a daisy cutter there, in the long term effect of course.

[Leonard]

In a long term of course, yeah. I can't imagine it being too significant either, though. :|