Susanne Dittke of EnviroSense sent the following video about how e-waste is being handled in Cape Town to me.
The University has set up its e-Waste Initiative with the help of the organisations featured in the video, such as WastePlan and the e-Waste Alliance.
In case you’re wondering what the fuss over e-waste is about, perhaps take some time and watch the following video about how the West’s e-waste is dumped in Africa and what the possible effects on health and the natural environment are.
The FRONTLINE/World TV series also made an excellent investigative documentary on the problem, called Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground.
Unfortunately, it is our fascination with the next best gadget and clever design and marketing for “planned obsolescence” that drive the flood of e-waste. For a philosphical take on the origins of our propensity to consume and discard “stuff”, you could do worse than watch “The Story of Stuff”:
FollowTags: e-Waste, electronic waste