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mmoutsatsos

The Rich World's Electronic Waste, Dumped in Ghana - Bloomberg - 0 views

www.bloomberg.com/...ectronic-waste-dumped-in-ghana

shared by mmoutsatsos on 14 Feb 22 - No Cached
  • the Agbogbloshie dump, a wasteland dotted with burning mounds of trash in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
  • Up to 10,000 workers wade through tons of discarded goods as part of an enormous, informal recycling process, in what has become one of the world’s largest destinations for used electronic goods.#lazy-img-360452765:before{padding-top:66.70212765957447%;}
  • Burns, back problems, and infected wounds
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  • respiratory problems, chronic nausea, and debilitating headaches
  • —brought on by the hazardous working environment and toxic air pollution.
  • smashing up old computers and televisions in search of valuable parts and burning insulated cables to recover copper.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump is a result of the world’s increasing demand for electronic equipment as consumers continually upgrade their devices and throw out the older ones.
  • The e-waste problem could expand into a global health crisis,
  • significant proportion of this electronic waste is sent, often illegally, from the West to developing countries across Africa and Asia.
  • Around 50 million tons of electronic waste, or e-waste, is being thrown away each year, according to a report published this year by the United Nations.
  • figure is projected to double by 2050.
  • only 20 percent of e-waste is thought to be recycled appropriately.
  • The rest “ends up in landfill, or is disposed of by informal workers in poor conditions,” the UN found.
  • A
  • “E-waste is a growing global challenge that poses a serious threat to the environment and human health worldwide,”
  • In Ghana, the waste arrives via the Port of Tema, 20 miles to the east of the Agbogbloshie dump.
  • They are often labeled as secondhand consumer products, health experts said, so they are not strictly considered waste.
  • “There are skin diseases and ailments [at Agbogbloshie], but the worst problem here is respiratory illnesses, because the amount of pollution here is so high,”
  • the quality of air is terrible
  • “The workers can’t do anything about it because they have to earn a living, so it’s a trade-off. They earn money but their health suffers.”
  • These health risks are entering the food chain. The Agbogbloshie area is home to one of the largest food markets in Accra, and haggard livestock roam freely and graze on the dumpsite.
  • Agbogbloshie contained some of the most hazardous chemicals on earth.
  • One egg hatched by a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie exceeded European Food Safety Authority limits on chlorinated dioxins, which can cause cancer and damage the immune system, 220 times over.
  • about 80,000 men, women, and children subsist from the Agbogbloshie dump, living either on-site or in the adjacent slum.
  • Ghana imports about 150,000 tons of secondhand electronics a year,
  • an international treaty that since 1989 has forbidden developed nations from carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries.
  • It is very important the issue of waste export to developing countries such as Africa and other countries in transition should be looked at critically.”
  • The German development agency GIZ is in the midst of delivering a €5 million ($5.5 million) project to build a sustainable, efficient recycling system at Agbogbloshie, as well as a health clinic and football pitch for workers.
  • But as the world’s appetite for electronics keeps growing, preventing the illegal dumping of electronic waste and the devastating impact it has on places like Agbogbloshie will prove an even greater challenge.
  • mmoutsatsos on 14 Feb 22
     
    The effects of electronic waste dumping in the Agbogbloshie dump in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It also talks about the health issues workers suffer from working there, and the problem is predicted to get much worse than it already is.
amoon008

Green Computing | University of Puget Sound - 0 views

www.pugetsound.edu/...green-computing

computing; university; green Puget Sound;

shared by amoon008 on 20 Feb 22 - No Cached
  • Technology Services (TS) supports sustainability in several ways. Examples include: Purchasing from Environmentally Committed Companies Participating in Electronic Recycling Programs Deploying Virtual Technologies Limiting Printing and Recycling Paper
  • Responsible handling of electronic equipment is critical in order to minimize the university’s impact on the environment. TS purchases campus computers from Dell and Apple.
  • Dell also banned the export of their electronic waste to developing nations. They offer a strong trade-in program for used equipment. Dell focuses in every way on being environmentally and ethically responsible corporate stewards.
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  • Dell supported a multi-stakeholder group in developing the Electronics Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). All Dell computers purchased by the university meet the EPEAT standard
  • Outdated Apple equipment is processed through Apple’s Trade-In Program, often for purchase credit. Apple either refurbishes the equipment or recycles it in an environmentally safe manner.
  • All electronic waste on the Puget Sound campus is recycled in one of the following ways:
  • Apple focuses on a comprehensive strategy for their machines, with specific goals for each phase of product development, use, and disposal. Every computer Apple sells has earned the highest rating of EPEAT Gold.
  • Other outdated equipment is processed through the university’s recycling partner, GreenPC Electronic Recycling. Such equipment is then refurbished and resold to other users.
  • By employing virtualization technology for servers and desktops, Technology Services promotes sustainability while also improving services!
  • Through PrintGreen, instituted in Fall 2012, students were allotted 750 free prints each semester - an amount that the majority of students did not exceed based on past usage records.
  • The ultimate goal of PrintGreen is to provide students with better information on the environmental impact of their printing and to promote the sustainable use of campus resources.
  • Recycling bins are placed prominently in all computing labs, Print & Copy Services, and TS offices.
  • amoon008 on 20 Feb 22
     
    This article talks about what the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA is doing regarding green computing on campus and how their students can also get involved.
krikooo94

Cleaning Up Electronic Waste (E-Waste) | US EPA - 0 views

www.epa.gov/...aning-electronic-waste-e-waste

E-waste EPA Cleaning Electronics Third World

shared by krikooo94 on 20 Feb 22 - No Cached
  • EPA works bilaterally with governments and environmental officials around the world on e-waste management.  U.S. EPA and Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA) coordinate the International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN), which has brought together environmental officials from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and North America to exchange best practices on e-waste management since 2011. 
  • EPA also collaborates with the Solving the E-waste Problem Initiative (Step)Exit Exit EPA website  to jointly address the e-waste problem in developing countries. Step, formerly known as UNU-Step, was previously an initiative under the United Nations University (UNU)
  • “E-waste”, “electronic waste”, “e-scrap” and “end-of-life electronics” are terms often used to describe used electronics that are nearing the end of their useful life, and are discarded, donated or given to a recycler.
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  • An undetermined amount of used electronics is shipped from the United States and other developed countries to developing countries that lack the capacity to reject imports or to handle these materials appropriately. Without proper standards and enforcement, improper practices may result in public health and environmental concerns, even in countries where processing facilities exist.
  • For example, there are problems with open-air burning and acid baths being used to recover valuable materials from electronic components, which expose workers to harmful substances. There are also problems with toxic materials leaching into the environment. These practices can expose workers to high levels of contaminants such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which can lead to irreversible health effects, including cancers, miscarriages, neurological damage and diminished IQs.
  • To this end, EPA funded UNU-StEP to lead a study on US exports of used electronics in an attempt to better define the US contribution to the overall e-waste problem.  StEP collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER)
  • In July 2011, the Task Force released the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship report, which details the federal government’s plan to enhance the management of electronics by: 1) incentivizing greener design of electronics; 2) leading by example; 3) increasing domestic recycling; and 4) reducing harmful exports of e-waste and building capacity in developing countries.  
  • avanzado on 20 Feb 22
     
    This article is explaining electronic waste and its danger to developing countries when the materials are not properly disposed of. Many countries have joined forces to create the International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN).
lvela051

Greening your IT infrastructure | Green IT Best Practices - 1 views

www.appliedtrust.com/...reening-your-it-infrastructure

green technology Hospitality software

shared by lvela051 on 07 Jun 18 - No Cached
  • Incident
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 07 Jun 18
       
      Ways to make office spaces more "green."
  • going green makes good business sense because it cuts costs in many areas.
  • Many forward-thinking organizations have already developed strategies to incorporate green IT factors into their everyday business decision-making processes. Stretching far beyond just facilities and information technology, leading companies are creating holistic green IT plans that include the Finance, Purchasing, and even Human Resources departments.
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  • Chances are that your IT department is directly and indirectly one of the largest power consumers in your company.
  • The benefits range from lower costs to happier employees:
  • Reducing environmental impact.
  • Lower operating costs.
  • Improved morale and workplace health.
  • Improved company image.
  • Lower capital costs.
  • Consolidate
  • Rightsize.
  • The five principles of green IT
  • use devices that perform more than one function so that you only have one device to power.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 07 Jun 18
       
      Multi-purpose device helps with reduction of excessive amounts of IT systems.
  • Virtualize.
  • Virtualization is one tool you can use to consolidate multiple workloads onto a single server while making it easy to move them from server to server in order to balance workloads or take systems offline for maintenance or replacement.
  • “Where to start?” You start by taking a baseline measurement of where you are today, making incremental improvements, and measuring the impact you’ve had.
  • Manage your waste stream
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 07 Jun 18
       
      Always make sure to reuse before recycling. If it comes to recycling, make sure to dispose properly where no environmental harm is done to the community.
  • Your network connections (and power) come in at the top, meeting a core router that’s probably in your data center. (You may have a data center, or you may have a closet, but you probably have some place with a set of central switches, servers, storage, and backup devices). The tree gets wider as your network fans out to your offices, where you may have an IP phone and workstation in each office, plus copiers, fax machines, and printers in common areas.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 07 Jun 18
       
      Important to know how everything connects to be able to see what is really needed.
  • Techniques for greening your office space.
  • Use one PC per employee, and size the machine to the task being performed.
  • LCD monitors are the norm today.
  • Set up sleep schedules on your PCs and your monitors;
  • Consider the waste stream that office equipment generates.
  • Measure.
  • Measure your energy consumption
  • Set goals
  • Make incremental changes
  • Measure again to evaluate
  • Repeat.
  • Control.
  • Get Experienced Help.
  • lvela051 on 07 Jun 18
     
    The article explores the concept of "Green IT" to help reduce the amount of energy and e-waste and make it more sustainable. The five principles mentioned in the article are to: Rightsize, consolidate, virtualize, measure and manage e waste, all used to be able to operate a better IT system that works efficiently to reduce energy consumption. Also providing a visual representation of an IT infrastructure to break down how it works and providing ways to reduce power and purchase of each structure. Some ways mentioned where to create a new data centres, installing new printers and purchasing energy-efficient equipment to reduce consumption and also cost of energy. The idea is to become more aware of how to start change and be able to control and monitor the IT used to make it more sustainable and minimize "ecological impacts." Based on the article and the quick evolution of technology, i don't think we can stop the use of IT systems but there are ways to reduce and monitor the amount of IT systems. One point that was not mentioned was "cloud computing" which seems to be an effective strategy set in place to reduce the amount of IT systems used within business. Not only does it reduces the hardware costs but also saves energy from having several systems to locate information.
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