Electronics

A few months ago I got a new cell phone. Not because my old one had a defect or lacked a feature I wanted, but because I wanted a new one. It seems so selfish, looking back, but consumers do it all the time. A website called Green Living Tips describes this move as perceived obsolescence. (http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/13/1/Recycling-electronic-equipment.html) This reckless buying behavior is not limited to electronics. People enjoy having new clothes and cars too, but the difference is that these items don't clog up land fills in the ways electronics do. Clothes can always become hand-me-downs or go to second hand stores and Goodwill until they get holes. Even then jeans can be patched and ole t-shirts can be used as cleaning clothes. (My dad uses his old cotton shirts to check the oil in his car.) Cars possess value for years after they are bought new. When a car breaks down people spend lot of time and money to repair them. They may change hands several time before they are abandoned. After the vehicle stops running, its parts are used for other vehicles. Electronics, on the other hand, have a different fate. After several years in a garage or attic, they are thrown away if they can't be sold at a yard sale. My dad is a big fan of diy (do it yourself), and he like to remind me and my siblings that when he was a kid people didn't discard tvs just because they were broken. Instead, they broke out the tool box and their electric current flow meters to find the problem. Then it was a simple trip into town to find a replacement part. Perhaps he expects too much from me and my generation to be able to repair our own electronics as they become more advanced, but he does have a point. Who knows where to even find replacement pieces, even if one could identify the problem. As technology gets better and beyond the scope of the average citizen, manufactures benefit and landfills pile up...

Recycling centers for electronics are few and far between when you don't live in a city. If I were to have something I wanted to recycle, I would need to drive an hour and a half all the way to Houston. Now that just seems like a lot of effort and fuel emissions.

I feel that the issue at hand is the attitude of the consumer. Do we really need the latest technology to show off to our friends or feel good about ourselves? Perhaps we should hold off on getting that new cell phone or lab top computer. We could cut back on the manufacturing of products, the build up in land fills, and prevent a heavy dose of toxic chemicals like mercury from entering our soil and water supply.