subject: E-Wastes – Raising Awareness [print this page] E-waste is short for "Electronic Waste", best described as any electronic equipment, devices or unusable surplus that has been discarded or "phased out" for today's technological standards. The amount of E-wastes has multiplied for the past five years due to the ever growing progress of technology. More and more people find themselves "upgrading" their old computer or laptop to keep up with pace of the current trend.
This includes video games, office networks, security systems and even the social media boom on the net with sites like Facebook and Twitter. People simply want to join in the "fad" in technology having top of the line equipment.
However, as much as there were gigantic strides in technology, properly disposing and recycling these devices pales in comparison. This is brought about by the lack of information towards consumers. The reality is people don't know how dangerous it is not taking the time to junk their old machines. The common notion is trash goes into landfills and that's that.
What people don't know is although 2% of electronics gets buried underground, 70% of hazardous toxic wastes in the country is the ingredient of these broken down equipment. These wastes seep into the earth with chemicals like Mercury, Beryllium, Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic and Brominated Flame Retardants, to name a few, stays in the Earth forever, never degrading.
Recycling and finding organizations who know how to properly handle E-Wastes is one of the best options there is.
On an additional note, a hard drive even through common formatting does not guarantee your private data is erased. Sectors within the magnetic disk can still be read, even if this was overwritten many times. This fact alone is one good reason to dispose unusable and old Electronic Equipment like personal computers and laptops properly. Throwing away an old laptop is also throwing away personal data, and once that happens, your private data becomes public property. Physically destroying media storage by professionals is a common practice for this.
For handheld devices such as Mobile Computers, Cell Phones, Etc. It is best to contact the manufacturer to get details like how to purge data from them. People commonly make the mistake of leaving addresses, phone numbers even Email addresses stored in the Flash memory of these devices.
We cannot blame ourselves for trying to get the latest Mobile Phone, upgrade to a more stylish laptop or get a more powerful electronic device for work. Change and progress is good for any society, even if the new computer you plan to get matches your wall's color, after all we are linear beings.
