Ever wondered what happens to our old computers? Most of our computers in North America journey to Asia or African countries, where they create unhealthy environments for millions of people.  An estimated 50 to 80 percent of E-waste collected in the United States for recycling is exported to areas such as China, India or Pakistan, where workers taking apart the old machines are handling toxic chemicals that can pose serious health problems.  The improper recycling of electronic waste in developing countries results in serious health and pollution problems such as water contaminated with lead and increased rates of cancer.

          On the other hand, a few companies are taking responsibility in order to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals found in their computers. For example, Dell, Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Gateway have recently expanded programs to collect old computer equipment to be reused. Likewise Fujitsu is among a handful of Japanese companies that have developed technologies to help eliminate some of the toxic chemicals by developing lead-free products .

Hence we are calling upon the computer industry as a whole to make a commitment to consumers that they will follow the lead of companies like Apple in reducing the amount toxins found in their computers.

That way everyone can look forward to a greener and safer world of tomorrow, for all.

      They say a Democracy like Canada is for the people, by the people and there to serve its people.  Hence, we have an integral part to play in our government's decisions. Most Canadians believe that when they take their old computer to a computer recycling facility that they are helping the environment.

In reality many Canadians are putting their privacy and the health of others and the environment at risk. There are now companies through the E-Stewardship program that have promised to properly recycle computers in Canada. However, the number of recycling companies that still collect these computers and ship them to Asia or Africa far out numbers them.

Companies do this because a computer only costs $2 to recycle in India while it would only cost $20 to recycle that same computer in a proper recycling facility within North America.  Furthermore, it is very cheap to ship products to China because they are a large shipping partner of North America. However, due to this mindset, we have degraded communities like Guiyu, China into toxic dumps. As Canadians, we should take responsibility for our own trash.

As such, we are urging the government to crack down on companies that still ship E-Waste to other countries. Canada is bound to conform to the terms of the agreement because it signed the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal agreement.

This way all Canadians can be proud of a government that keeps its word when it makes a commitment to the whole world, on behalf of its people.

To support an orphanage for abandoned children in Haiti

Category: Arts & Culture

Tags: children, Haiti, HIV/AIDS, Orphanage, We Can Build an Orphanage, WeCanBuildanOrphanage.com

Language: English