Environmental_Stewardship_&_Sustainability_Research

Rough Draft Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Research Bilal Siddiqui Computer Science Mr. Gordan May 10,2011 Electronic Waste or referred as “E-Waste” is the amount of all the electronic waste of products such as computers, televisions, handheld devices or any other electronically related product/s. Electronic waste relates to electronics which have been previously used then “passed on” or “wasted” for further reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal. E-Waste is growing rapidly each day, mainly because of the world’s economy, referring to the market in which the products are being made. From the smallest parts of a computer to the biggest piece to working a cell phone, the market can gasp each piece and put a price on the smallest of things, thus giving the creation of E-Waste growing every day. E-waste is a waste stream thus meaning that all waste products can be given or “trashed”. It is one of the fastest growing waste streams, and contains a large portion of the environmental waste around the world. A lot of initiatives and concerns have been talked about around the world, about the issues and problems of E-Waste. By the use of the electronic devices and making sure that there are safer ways used to prevent hazardous substances to be used wherever the manufacture is. The fast and rapid changes in technology are causing E-Waste to be one of the biggest environmental and global warming related problems in the world. Every Year about 50 million tons of Electronic waste is created, and continues to grow into our environments. Electronic Waste creates tons of problems in our world today, which can be very small in size but very big in harming the environment. For example many of the electronic waste items can contain hazardous chemicals. For example if such products like Televisions would be thrown out to be waste, but many don’t know that the television contains chemical elements such as mercury lead, cadmium and bromine (Brominated flame retardants) which reacts to create fire. With such products containing hazardous things inside of them, they may release dangerous fumes into the air depending on the environment state, weather, condition etc. Electronic Waste can directly impact our earth majorly through the waste covering the earth’s crust. Although that may seem amusing and shocking, results don’t show right away but it takes many years for the effect to show. Electronic Waste can go as far as to impacting our agriculture ways, when electronic waste is used for the landfills after a sometime they stop filling the land and use it as a human habitat or a farm land. When people grow plants and crops in these farm lands the plant absorb nutrition’s in the soil. Refrences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/toxics/hi-tech-highly-toxic/e-waste/ http://www.step-initiative.org/initiative/what-is-e-waste.php