With the continuous development in the electronics industry old appliances are being replaced by new modern appliances. These old equipment are being dumped at a very large scale and improper disposal of these wastes has become one of the most challenging problems in today's world; not only because of their quantity, but the fact that they are of high toxicity; creating threat to humanity.
In America every year as a minimum 2.5 million tons of e-waste is generated and its 50 million tons when calculated worldwide every two years. These facts give rise to some questions that where these wastes exactly go? Where these wastes are being dumped? Many times the unused electronic things end up in trash and then finally in filling our Lands, polluting soil, water, lakes and streams and making them unhealthy for drinking, fishing, swimming and supporting wildlife.
But the problem doesn't end here, many poor and developing countries importing tons of electronic wastes as a source of income because these wastes contain precious metals like silver, gold and copper. But their primitive techniques of recycling (like burning) also expose them to toxins, creating health risks for them because these wastes (apart from metals) also contains harmful substances like mercury, lithium, lead, Brominated flame retardants, PVC plastic, cadmium and phosphorous coating. Burning these substances produce dioxins. The possible health risks of these toxins can be tumours, mental health disorders and cancer. These are just some of the results. World Health Organization is trying to identify the potential health risks of toxins present in electronic waste.
Recycling them not only reduces the toxins going into landfill but also decreases the quantity of raw materials we mine from the earth. That's why it becomes necessary to recycle these wastes responsibly to save our environment and thus human and wildlife. As part of the society it's our duty to take an initiative to save humanity from the hazardous effects of electronic waste. This is not only about me or you, but all of us. This responsibility reminds me of the Native American saying;
“We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children.”
World is changing; everything is changing and we also need to change. But what matters is how we are going to change? What difference we are going to make? What we are going to give our children so that they can see a brighter future? For the betterment of Humankind we need to take an initiative today to make a better tomorrow.
