Idea Ink

E-waste: It’s Not Hiding, It’s Just Resting!

Picture this: You’re rummaging through your closet, searching for that elusive left sock, when suddenly – BAM! – you’re buried under an avalanche of outdated gadgets. Congratulations, you’ve just discovered your personal e-waste landfill! But fear not, dear reader, for you are not alone in this electronic hoarding adventure. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, a whopping 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste were generated worldwide in 2019 (Forti et al. 12). That’s like 5,000 Eiffel Towers made entirely of discarded phones, computers, and that Apple IIC you swore would come back into fashion. E-waste is a manageable problem that can both save the planet and allow us to grow economically.

But here’s the kicker: only 17.4% of this e-waste was properly recycled (Forti et al. 13). The rest? Well, it’s either lounging in landfills, taking extended vacations in incinerators, or enjoying all-inclusive stays in our oceans. Talk about getting more bytes than you bargained for in your seafood!

Now, you might be thinking, “But I can’t possibly part with my collection of brick-sized mobile phones! What if I need to demolish a wall while making a call?” Fear not, for there is a solution, and it doesn’t involve working for free (unless you’re into that sort of thing).

We can turn our e-waste problem into e-solutions, transforming those dust-gathering gadgets into valuable resources. By diving into the world of Linux-powered resurrection, remote tech support adventures, and the art of turning “trash” into someone else’s treasure.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather ’round for the tale of the incredible shrinking gadget and the ever-growing mountain of e-waste! It’s a story of technological marvels, environmental perils, and the quest to save the world armed with nothing but a screwdriver and an old Linux manual.

In this thrilling adventure, we’ll witness smartphones so powerful they make supercomputers blush, laptops so thin they could double as pizza cutters, and a pile of discarded electronics so large it’s visible from space. (Okay, that last one might be a slight exaggeration, but give it a few years!)

Once upon a time, in the dark ages of technology (aka the 1980s), computers were so large they had their own zip codes. Fast forward to today, and we’re carrying around more computing power in our pockets than NASA used to land on the moon. Don’t believe me? Let’s crunch some numbers:

1. Processing Power: The Apollo Guidance Computer operated at 0.043 MHz. The latest iPhone chip? Over 3,000 MHz. That’s an increase of about 69,767 times!

2. Memory: The Apollo computer had about 4 kilobytes of RAM. Today’s smartphones? Up to 16 gigabytes. That’s 4 million times more memory!

3. Storage: The first commercially available hard drive, the IBM 350, could store about 3.75 megabytes and weighed over a ton. Today’s microSD cards can hold up to 1 terabyte and weigh less than a gram. That’s 266,666 times more storage in a package about 1 millionth the weight!

As Moore’s Law predicted, computing power has doubled roughly every two years. To put this in perspective, if cars had advanced at the same rate since 1971 when the first microprocessor was introduced:

• They’d go from 0 to 60 mph in about 0.00015 seconds

• They’d get about 2 million miles per gallon

• They’d cost less than a penny

But here’s the rub: this breakneck pace of innovation has a dark side. As Forti et al. note in “The Global E-waste Monitor 2020,” “Shorter replacement cycles for mobile phones and computers, and increasingly, other devices and equipment, are driving the increase in e-waste” (23).

III. The E-waste Explosion: When Gadgets Go “Boom”
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. No, not the one wearing the VR headset (although that would be pretty cool). I’m talking about the massive, growing, and increasingly problematic mountain of e-waste we’re creating.

According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, “In 2019, the world generated a striking 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of e-waste, an average of 7.3 kg per capita” (Forti et al. 13). To put that in perspective:

• It’s heavier than the Great Wall of China

• It’s enough to build a 125-meter-tall wall stretching from New York to Miami
• If it were a country, E-wasteland would be the 29th largest nation by area

But here’s the kicker: “Only 17.4% of 2019’s e-waste was officially documented as formally collected and recycled” (Forti et al. 13). The rest? Well, it’s probably forming its own civilization in a landfill somewhere, electing old iPhones as their leaders and planning world domination.

Now, I can hear you asking: “But if we stop buying new gadgets, won’t the tech industry collapse faster than my attempts at a TikTok dance challenge?”
It’s a fair question. After all, the tech industry isn’t powered by good vibes and recycled memes (although that would be pretty sustainable).

The global semiconductor industry, which forms the backbone of our gadget-obsessed world, was valued at $466.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030 (Semiconductor Industry Association). That’s more zeros than I can count without taking off my shoes!

But here’s the plot twist: all those discarded gadgets? They’re a gold mine. Literally. The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 estimates that “The value of raw materials in the global e-waste generated in 2019 is equal to approximately $57 billion USD” (Forti et al. 14). That’s right, we’re throwing away more money than the GDP of most countries. It’s like using the Mona Lisa as a coffee coaster!

So, how do we keep inventing cool gadgets without turning Earth into a giant game of “Katamari Damacy” where the ball is made of old Nokia phones? Enter the circular economy – it’s like a merry-go-round, but for gadgets!

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggests that “Moving to a circular economy for electronics could reduce the carbon emissions of the electronics industry by 50% by 2030” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). That’s like telling half of all our gadgets to hold their breath for a decade!

But implementing a circular economy isn’t just good for the planet; it’s good for our wallets too. The World Economic Forum reports that “A circular economy for electronics could reduce the costs for consumers by 7% by 2030 and 14% by 2040” (11). Lower costs and less waste? That’s what I call a win-win! It’s like finding out your diet plan involves eating more pizza.

Now, here’s where we channel our inner MacGyver. Picture this: your old laptop, the one that takes so long to start up you could watch the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy (extended editions) while waiting. What if I told you this digital fossil could be resurrected as the brain of a smart home?

Enter Linux, the operating system that’s more adaptable than a chameleon in a Skittles factory. With the right Linux distribution, we can turn electronic relics into valuable tools for education, communication, and empowerment.
Our grand plan? Collect old computers, give them a Linux makeover, and transform them into smart home hubs.

We could create our own personal Hal 9000 digital assistants. This could be really cool! Imagine you come home from work POed at your boss, and your digital system says to you upon entering “I really think you need to relax and think things over, Dave, I mean whoever you are 😊”

We can also distribute these systems to communities in developing countries, including areas where information access is limited by authoritarian regimes.
It’s like “The Six Million Dollar Man,” but instead of “We can rebuild him,” it’s “We can rebuild it, make it stronger, faster, and able to run a smart home in a developing country or our own back yard.” And the best part? We’re doing it with devices that would otherwise be cluttering up landfills or serving as really expensive paperweights.

As we wrap up our whirlwind tour of the e-waste wonderland, remember this: in the grand game of technological Tetris, we have the power to change how the pieces fall. We can turn our digital cast-offs into someone else’s treasure, create a circular economy that keeps both innovation and the planet spinning, and use technology to empower communities in our own land and around the world.

So the next time you’re about to toss that old gadget, pause for a moment. That device in your hand isn’t just a relic of the past; it’s the key to the future.

Works Cited

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “Circular Consumer Electronics: An Initial Exploration.” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018

Forti, Vanessa, et al. “The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, Flows, and the Circular Economy Potential.” United Nations University (UNU)/United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – co-hosted SCYCLE Programme, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), 2020.

Semiconductor Industry Association. “2022 State of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry.” Semiconductor Industry Association, 2022

World Economic Forum. “A New Circular Vision for Electronics: Time for a Global Reboot.” World Economic Forum, 24 Jan. 2019

[Footnote: This paper was developed with the assistance of an AI language model, ChatGPT, created by OpenAI.]

For background information please consult the follow YouTube videos as well:

FRONTLINE PBS. “Plastic Wars (full documentary) | FRONTLINE.” YouTube, 31 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/?v=-dk3NOEgX7o.

Business Insider. “How 6 Million Pounds Of Electronic Waste Gets Recycled A Month | Big Business.” YouTube, 6 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2lmPIa1iWE.

Factora. “Entire Recycling Process Explained.” YouTube, 17 Nov. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNPEH0GOhRw.