WhatTheyThink’s Going Green has joined forces with Two Sides to help address the “perceptions” that paper destroys forests, that electronic media are “greener” than print and paper, and that recycling is the solution to all environmental ills. Two Sides offers us a link to a research paper that quantifies China’s growing e-waste problem, pointing out: “With the rapid development of economy, China’s e-wastes generate at an astonishing speed in recent years. In 2010, China became the second largest producing country of e-wastes worldwide, generating 2.3 million tons of e-wastes, only second to 3 million tons of the United States. In addition, large numbers of e-wastes are illegally or legally exported to China annually.” Why Should You Care? First of all, and maybe it’s me, but being the #1 producer of e-waste is a dubious honor. Second of all, attempts at solving our own e-waste problems are the source of that exported waste, and we don’t just send it to China, but to other developing nations as well where it becomes an environmental and/or health hazard, as it can leach toxic materials into the ground and groundwater. (I feel compelled to point out that even when sent to landfills, the worst that most discarded paper can leach is toxic prose.) Believe it or not, e-waste can, in some ways, be thought of as a renewable resource:

Although the pollution is enormous, it is also of relatively high recycling value. For instance, the metal content in computers exceeds 30%, and that in waste printed circuit boards is more considerable. In waste circuit boards, the copper content is up to 20%, which also contain metals such as aluminum and iron as well as trance amounts of rare and noble metals such as gold, silver and platinum. The plastic content in e-wastes is also very high. After melting, plastic can be used as the raw material of new products or as fuel.

It’s not just in China, but even here at home better recovery and recycling efforts can help minimize the impact of e-waste. Some manufacturers are doing a good job of encouraging recovery and recycling of discarded units, be they computers, mobile phones, tablet computers, or even general household appliances. But it also requires some effort on the part of consumers to avail themselves of responsible electronics or appliance recycling programs. For more Two Sides facts see http://www.twosides.us/mythsandfacts.