Environmental Information & Statistics
Consumer electronics — including TVs and other video equipment, computers, assorted peripherals, audio equipment, and phones — comprise approximately one to two percent of the municipal solid waste stream, as tracked in the Municipal Solid Waste Characterization Report, but they garner a great deal of interest for several reasons:
Rapid growth and change in this product sector leading to a growing number of products needing appropriate end-of-life management;
The intensive energy and diverse material inputs that go into manufacturing electronics represent a high degree of embodied energy and scarce resources;
The presence of substances of concern in some electronics that merits greater consideration for safe end-of-life management; and
The opportunities for resource recovery through improved collection and recycling.
This Information and much more is from: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm
We are proud to announce the following resource : http://www.rapidsupplies.com/reduce-reuse-recycle-paper-making-arts-and-crafts.aspx from a summer science program involving some very special kids that are helping to spread the 'green movement' via recycling.
Our oceans, although hard to believe because undetectable from the surface to the average person, are in serious distress.
This is one thing everyone can do; talk about the facts and spread the word to everyone, everywhere. I am very happy to report how much recently I do hear people discussing the shape and importance of the ocean these days; from our customers to the local & national news shows.
Thank You!
**If you have information pertaining to the environment you would like us to post here (free of charge of course) please email us at recycle@aftertech.net. We would love to share your information, thoughts and ideas about what is happening environment wise and what we can do to help reverse it.
- Island sized collections and huge whirlpools in the ocean, 'gyres', full of garbage and plastics are killing all marine life. We all need to become more conscience of the plastics we use knowing they end up in landfills and in the ocean. There are companies working on more environmentally friendly plastics. Even some US states are working on banning certain cellophane products such as New York. Go New York!
- Believe it or not, the ocean is running out of oxygen due to declining sea grass and the decline of the turtles that thrived on and helped that sea grass.
- Did you know that when electronics sit around in landfills or left outside to rot, the properties of their composition can change becoming hazardous and airborne?
- Have you seen the ice near the poles lately? Every year a layer of dark pollution lands on the surface stopping the ice from reflecting the son and causing great melting spots. It is no longer pristine. But maybe with some hard work and endurance we can start to reverse this global warming symptom.
- Some fracking companies use billions of gallons of clean water to:
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside. There are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the US. Information found at: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/fracking/
Sharks for the use of only their fins is so, so very wasteful and inhumane.
- One of the most gut wrenching monstrosities I have seen to date is for supplying Shark Fin Soup to the world as a status symbol. Even protected species of sharks are thrown back into the ocean alive but without their fins; left to die a horrible, painful death. Because the fins are the only part of them with any value. The fin by itself has no taste. In nine years a 60% decline of sharks has been recorded in the ocean near Taiwan. Many are killed before given a chance to reproduce. Their reproduction is already a slow process. The extinction of these animals could ruin the the ecology of the oceans forever.
- Following is a chart of a little bit information on noise pollution in the sea.
Asbestos and Mesothelioma
We were recently contacted and asked if we could share some information on Asbetos which causes Mesothelioma.
Here are the links:
https://www.asbestos.com/exposure/handling-disposing-asbestos/
https://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/causes/risk-factors/
If you have any further questions, you can contact Roselyn Burrowes at the Mesothelioma Center. Her email is rburrowes@asbestos.com.
For more information regarding asbestos exposure and related diseases, visit https://www.mesotheliomalawyercenter.org/mesothelioma-cancer/causes/."
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All of this information can be found online and sadly much, much more. I did not give individual credits for these pictures, assuming they would be happy to have them shared, but would do so if was important to the source.
Please! Start reading and educating yourself about our world and the problems we face as a whole species not out of fear but out of love. Is it not our responsibility to be the guardians of our planet; each and everyone of us? Discuss casually with everyone you know and tell them to do the same! If you have something you would like to post here, please email us at AfterTech.net and we will get it done for you.
What can we do? For starters, we can be more aware about the packaging our consumables come in; what we throw out with little thought as to where it will end up. It would be great if every single person were legally responsible for their own personal waste; if house holds had to figure out how to recycle or re-purpose everything they buy and its packaging instead of conveniently 'throwing it out'. Imagine what a change that would bring. Just try and imagine for a couple of minutes before you go on. Please. Then check out the EPA Environmental Protection Agency website and / or the DEQ, Department of Environmental Quality website. They both have amazing amounts of insightful information and helpful solutions for businesses and individuals.
Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics