Technotrash

A few items have integrated themselves into part of my daily life and routine. If they were lost or damaged, my life would drastically be affected. I am sure I could live without my devices, and I have before for around a week. However, through using the devices, I have developed my needs for online social interaction. Additionally, they greatly help my productivity. However, they also provide a large distraction. Everywhere I go I bring both my Toshiba computer, to do homework, and my Samsung phone.

All the devices I own were given to me by a family member, so they have sentimental value attached to them. The computer I own now is the second computer I have ever owned, but I shatter my phone on almost a yearly basis. Normally after cracking my phone, I’ll keep it until I am gifted a new one, because I hate spending money on items when I have something that still works with me.

Unfortunately, with smaller devices I am not as stingy. I will buy cheaper, smaller electronics and use them for a few months before either losing, breaking or growing disinterested with them. For example, currently I have a smartwatch and a windows tablet in my dorm room that I do not use. In the past when I stopped using my devices I would just put them in the back of my closet and forget about them. I never know how to properly throw them out, so they become clutter.

“Cable routes are not only makeshift homes but also places for dumping trash, areas to be preserved and protected, sites for recreation, and even sacred grounds” (Starosielski). Garbage ends up mainly in sites society does not care about, no matter rich and diverse their environment. According to GreenPeace, the EPA has estimated that three quarters of just the computers sold in the USA end up stockpiled in closets and garages. Even when they get thrown away, many computers end up in incinerators, landfills, recently many have also been exported to Asia. Having technotrash placed in landfills is unhealthy because the toxic chemicals in the devices will leach into the land and destroy the underground environmental ecosystem.

In Hogan’s piece, she talks about a real world example of technotrash on a large scale. She goes into Facebook’s data centers. She asks us to think about questions like how the servers work, where they are located and what is wasted. This is a large scale problem that affects both the local ecosystems and, since Facebook is large empire, the world. Something to think about is what will happen when those large data centers are not needed or something fails, what will happen to the technology?

Technotrash is an overwhelming and under-talked about issue. There are toxic chemicals and non-biodegradable items that are awfully unsafe for the environment and need to be disposed of in a safe way. However, many people including myself are unsure what to do with their old electronics. Moving forward, we need to continue a conversation about this issue, and create more visible places for people to dispose of their items when they are finished.

Works Cited:

Starosielski, Nicole. The Undersea Network (Sign, Storage, Transmission) . Duke University Press. Kindle Edition.

"Where Does E-waste End Up?" Greenpeace International. Greenpeace, 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

Hogan, Mél. "Sign In: Registered Users." Facebook Data Storage Centers as the Archive's Underbelly. Sage Journals, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.