How humans have been contributing towards e-waste?
The environment is something that every single human needs to understand and take care of. Contributing to e-waste, we as humans through various stages of development and selfish reasons have been neglecting our environment for way too long now. Recent studies show that we have had a huge surge of global warming, especially after the covid year as all the industries and services has to restart their entire processes because of the sudden surge, there was a drastic and sudden increase which increased global warming levels.
Humans have already destroyed the planet to an extent where we have done enough damage already for the next 100 years and hence, need to change the habits that we use from today onwards to be able to make a change and keep our planet habitable for us as well as all other species. The good news is that as humans have done the damage they have also taken accountability for it and have understood the damage they have done and how to make the necessary changes so that it can still be available to living creatures after all the years. There are no reverse actions to the damage we have sealed already and hence, the only way to be able to save the environment is to be changing our habits. In this article, we would be discussing how much e-waste humans have produced so far and how is it still happening.
What is E-waste? How have humans been contributing towards it?
E-waste can be defined as electronic waste. In other words, e-waste is all the waste that has been discarded by humans for purpose of upgrading to a better device. Devices such as mobile phones, computers, and televisions are some of the most common sources of e-waste as these products are changed very regularly by people when a new and better product is available in the market.
Well, humans are the only source of e-waste as no other species generally use any sort of electric device by any means. Hence, it is clear that humans are the only ones that contribute to it. It is also very evident that any sort of pollution has to be associated with humans. Even though we have been trying to shift to a better advancement and have sustainable and healthier options, it is still very difficult to be able to switch up things that have been affected so far.
Also Read: New Energy Solutions: Everything You Need To Know About
E-waste Disposal
The most common method that has been used as of now to dispose of e-waste is landfilled, unfortunately. Landfills are very toxic to humans as well as the environment as the e-waste if not treated probably can release harmful chemical compounds upon being decomposed and ruin the fertility as well as the general health of the soil in turn damaging human health aspect by getting agricultural land to be infected with such toxins.
An acid bath is also a common way to treat these elements and also can cause severe damage if not disposed of properly, although the parts can, however, be recycled after soaking in such strong acid. The acid should be disposed of properly otherwise it may find its way to some nearby water source and pollute that as well and can cause double damage.
Incineration is burning off these waste materials at a very high temperature which significantly reduces the volume of the waste and also works as a fuel but it also produces a large number of toxic gasses such as cadmium and mercury which are then released into the atmosphere and creates a lot of air pollution.
Recycling and reusing have to be the best way to be able to dispose of such waste recycling can help you manufacture new products by treating old product components, treating them and make it reusable, and then using various configurations to either create a whole new component or can be used directly for the new product component. Reusing is the best way to put it to use as organizations will gladly use your old devices to provide unfortunate people who are not able to afford such products and use them to the best of their capability. Hence, selling or refurbishing are considered the best methods to be disposing of such products.
How can one create less e-waste?
The number one cause of e-waste is when people have their devices outdated and need to change them as an upgrade would be better. When you try to purchase products, it is not only better for the environment but also for your self-investment to get the device with the latest features and advancements so that they don’t need to be replaced as soon as a new product hits the market. Laptops or PCs with great specifications or phones that are durable and can work for the long run as generally preferred and should be bought as they would last with all functioning features and not have to change ever so often. They are great one-time investments and should be treated as one. There is no necessary need for you to switch up devices when your device is not even outdated as well as get it maintained properly so that it doesn’t break down.
There are locally designated facilities to be disposing and recycling this e-waste. These are the best solutions for when you want to recycle your e-waste. Some are licensed to be disposing only of household waste whereas some can even dispose of larger e-waste materials from industries or anything from your business.
Conclusion
One cannot stress how important it is to save our planet. We do not have any other planet to go to when this planet is no longer habitable. There can be a plan B for situations and is better to be used as we do not have a planet B. Every single human needs to realize the need to save this planet. Hope this article helped you understand the importance and ways to recycle or dispose of e-waste. We as new generations need to save it for the generations that are ahead of us.
