Techno Trash: Can We Really Live Zero Waste?

Blog 3: Techno Trash

Everything seems to be starting to work out with my zero-waste project. I am starting to get the hang of explaining my situation to people and remember my own packaging. Though I still have some reservations (which can be seen in my previous weekly check-in), it seems like the transition into this lifestyle is really starting to become smooth. However, I keep thinking about the “big purchases.” I am talking about cars, pots and pans, furniture, cell phones, laptops, and other large items that are not frequently purchased, but, I would assume, create more production waste than smaller everyday objects. Maybe some furniture pieces like a lamp, for example, creates less waste than a laptop. Our class spent a fair amount of time talking about techno-trash and e-waste. Two forms of trash creation that most people do not even notice. Individuals with the ability to usually purchase new cell phones every one to two years. How are they made? Where do those resources come from? And, where do they go when we are done with them?

Technology has become such an essential part of everyday life that most people do not question its existence. In our class, we discussed the disposal process of phones, laptops, and televisions. Because there are resources such as iron and copper in our devices, the disposal process is a bit more difficult. Instead of being treated like plastic and getting crushed into a landfill, technology pieces are typically brought to “recycling” facilities. These companies then export all their collections to developing countries, so individuals and sort through broken class, mercury, and lead to finding scraps of useful metals in junk yards for little to no pay. The other toxic materials are left to infiltrate into the soil of these “recycling plants”. This process is controversial and virtually unknown. The creation of E-waste has a similar way of hiding its dirty truth. I had never heard of E-waste before reading about it for class. E-waste is the concept of energy and materials that go into the storage process and function of websites. Facebook, for example, is a constantly refreshing website with more than a billion users. The company keeps all of its data in these physical storage facilities. One of the largest problems with E-waste and large corporations like Facebook and Google (the largest contributors to E-waste) is the lack of transparency. These companies work hard to conceal their environmental impacts by advertising fun work spaces and claiming to lower emissions, but they do not publicize how they store their precious data. Mel Hogan problematizes their actions and critically questions how these companies make a world of data easily accessible without easily disclosing their own practices in her piece, “Facebook Data Storage Centers as the Archive’s Underbelly.” Her main purpose is to expose the practices of Facebook and the exponential and uncontrollably growth due to a lack of political regulation. It is interesting to me that policy makers are so unware of what is happening in the large corporations that fund them. However, that is a completely different topic for a different project.

Hogan’s article does make me question what it truly means to live without any waste. Just by posting this blog, using search engines to do research, and promoting our posts on social media platforms, I am not only failing to live zero waste, but I am also promoting others to do the same. Also, as I mentioned before, technology is slowly consuming our everyday lives. An individual cannot go outside or interact with another person without the mention of something using technology. Facebook especially is a fantastic platform for the same activists attempting to fight the climate crisis. Relating E-waste and techno trash to this thought of a completely zero waste lifestyle almost seem more problematic than effective. The only way I see technology use and environmentally conscious living working together is through moderation and education. As activists and environmentalists, we must be mindful of what we are using, how much we are using, and how we communicate this to others. Barely any human action can happen without impacting the plant in a negative way. The intention of this blog is to teach others about techno trash, E-waste, and the impacts of both on the planet. With this information, I would like to challenge my readers to share this information with others and consider the needs of internet use or need to purchase new devices in the future.

Work Cited:

Hogan, Mél. "Facebook Data Storage Centers as the Archive’s Underbelly." Television & New Media 16.1 (2015): 3-18. Web.