E-Waste Pollution: Fighting Environmental Problems as a Hobby

How my hobbies are addressing an environmental problem in the modern society today? My hobby is the collection of phones that have broken down or have stopped functioning in order to extract useful components such as IC’s, Motherboards, flex cables and Lithium batteries. 

What is E-Waste pollution? E-Waste is an informal name given for an electronic product nearing the end of its useful life. E-waste is an emerging problem given the volumes of e-waste being generated and the content of both toxic and valuable materials in them. There is a fast-growing waste stream that is growing because of the global market for electronics which is far from saturation. The average life span of a computer is reducing. The life span of a CPU had reduced from 4–6 years in 1997 to 2 years in 2005. Over the past two decades, the global market of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) continues to grow exponentially, while the life span of those products becomes shorter. The rapid development of the economies in developed and developing nations has caused a rise in electronic waste production. Top Electronic waste producers in the world include China and United States of America, Japan, Germany and India. Example of e-waste could include Computers, VCR, copiers and fax machines.

I believe thta E-Waste Pollution is a big problem and that is why I chose such a hobby.  E-waste causes serious harm to systems in the human body. This is due to the fact that materials like cell phones, computer screens and batteries consists of components like Lead, Mercury, Lithium, and Cadmium. The components contain chemicals with toxins that have serious health effects. The health can lead to issues such as birth defects, cancer, and it could even lead to damaging the skeletal system. Thus, it is essential to dispose of this waste in an eco-friendly manner, which could only be done through availing the services of professional junk removal service providers, as they ensure that the waste is disposed of in an eco-friendly manner with limited impact over the environment. The reasons for the increase in E-waste is because of the increase in the number of products due the following listed factors:

• Rapid Development

There are over a billion personal computers in the world while in developed countries these computers have an average life span of only 2 years. As the digital divide narrows, we must address the question of disposal of large numbers of 'end of life' electronic equipment. We can now also understand that this industry is globalising at a fast rate. ALL of this is because of development caused by globalisation.

• Improvement in Technology

In this modern era technology is growing at a fast speed. This technology results in the coming of newer products and appliances. The major reason can be attributed to Multinational corporations. The Multinational corporations nowadays are potent and can influence a whole market system. The Multinationals also provide better technology and, in some cases, have money more than the budget of some countries. Moreover, they form some kind of monopoly in the market and they are able to decide price and quality. The increase in technology has also been due to the increase in the middle class and have been motivated to buy since the prices have gone down and quality has increased.

• Change in Human Mentality

The change in human mentality has given more money power to the middle class category and the ability of financial power has helped them buy more products and in this case causes an increase e waste by kind of changing their mentality. Due to increase financial power people nowadays tend to substitute their older materials with the newer ones and this older material if electronic related is termed as E-Waste.

• Increase in Population

The increase of population has triggered even more people to buy electronic goods therefore we can conclude that an increase in population the amount of e waste would also increase because these computers they bought after sometime would be thrown with the introduction of better technology devices which would be bought by the.

The impact of e-waste can cause several aspects of the environment as well as its direct impact on people. Probably the most common influence is via hydrocarbons released into the air when e-waste is warmed up. This atmospheric damage is one of the largest environmental impacts. Also, the effect of E-waste on soil holds a great risk to humans and animals. As the chemicals sink into the soil from toxic metals, they pollute the soil and as most of these are not biodegradable, it continues to provide risks of exposure to land and sea animals. Moreover, there is an effect of E-waste on water as electronics that contain batteries, lead, mercury, lithium, and barium pollute our water.

In conclusion, my hobby is helping to reduce e-waste pollution since it reduces the number of broken-down phones. It also ensures complete utilization of resources that have already been formed. It helps to minimize wastage. I am able to address E-pollution since as I collect the phones and separate the components am able to dispose the Lithium Batteries safely since it is a danger to the environment.