By B.N. Frank
Tree Huggers Should Be Freaking Out about “E-waste” from 5G, “Smart” Meters, and More…
There is no doubt that technology can save lives. Any driver who has ever experienced car trouble will attest that a cell phone can be a real life saver.
But cell phones aren’t only simple devices used in emergencies any more. They also aren’t the only source of “E-waste” that is contributing to air, soil, and water pollution everywhere.
We continue to be told that Climate Change is a problem. How much “E-waste” is contributing to Climate Change depends on who you ask and who is paying for their opinions. This can be said about everything regarding new technology.
Regardless, there have been many in-depth articles about electronic, digital, and wireless products being deliberately designed and manufactured to have short life spans. This is referred to as “Planned Obsolescence.”
The “New Normal” is that everything with electrical, digital, or wireless components malfunctions, breaks, or becomes obsolete within 3-7 years, sometimes even less. This wasn’t always the case. You may even know people who still have working appliances in their homes that were made before you or your parents were born.
People were once more inclined to pay for appliances to be repaired instead of buying new ones. Nowadays it seems that most products are deliberately manufactured to cost more to repair than replace. It’s become a “Throwaway” culture.
Wireless and digital “smart” meters that have been installed on homes and buildings by utility companies are notorious for their short life spans. Consumer advocates have accused manufacturers and utility companies of promoting them as being “beneficial to customers” even though there are plenty of reports documenting that they haven’t been. Unlike other electrical, digital or wireless products, utility companies do not provide customers with manuals or guidelines when they install “smart” meters on homes and buildings.
Besides short life spans, there have been other awful issues documented and reported about utility “smart” meters:
- Appliances malfunctioning and breaking
- Fires and/or explosions
- Measurement errors leading to higher bills
- New and increased illnesses – including cancer – among humans and pets from the wireless (WiFi) radiation these meters emit 24/7
Adding insult to injury, customers are often given rate increases for these meters to be installed and replaced. Millions of utility customers across the U.S, North America and around the world have been fighting to keep them out of their communities.
Even though these utility “smart” meters are sometimes promoted by environmentalists as being beneficial and eco-friendly, this hardly seems possible since these meters need to be replaced so quickly. Original analog meters that lasted on average 40 years.
I have not heard about any environmental groups bothering to check how many of these burnt, broken, or obsolete meters and their components end up in landfills. Have you?
Some environmentalists promote these meters as being “energy efficient” as well. This has also been heavily debated.
Regardless, their short life spans alone fit the description of “Planned Obsolescence” so they can’t be eco-friendly. Even if you don’t care about the environment, you’re still paying for meters that aren’t being tested for the way they are being used that utility companies are insisting are safe and beneficial to customers when they clearly are not.
If you’re concerned about human rights, new technology is often being made by exploiting citizens of less fortunate countries. This includes very young children. There have been many in-depth news stories about that, too.
How much we need all this new technology depends on who you ask. The inventors who originally designed many personal tech devices have been sending their kids to private “low tech” schools and limiting the amount of time their children are exposed to technology in their homes. So even though the rest of us have been told that these products are necessary to educate other people’s children, tech inventors’ kids still don’t seem to need it.
The current “race” for 5G technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) will create even more e-Waste.
According to many sources, including Dr. Oz, 5G is being promoted and pushed by our elected officials and Telecom Companies as being good for Americans because it will enable us to “binge-watch, surf, and post online” without the threat of our screens freezing up or being disconnected. This is also what humans did in the 2008 Pixar movie, WALL-E. None of these humans seemed all that bright, healthy or enlightened.
Many are concerned about what 5G small cell towers will do to us when it is installed everywhere.
We all want what we want. Many haven’t considered how all of this new technology is affecting all of us in ways besides e-Waste. Research has already proven that exposure to sources of wireless (WiFi) radiation and/or electrical pollution (Electrosmog) can cause or increase health issues and possibly boost cancer risk. Digital addiction is even being addressed by those who originally designed new technology.
On a side note, it’s recently been reported that Amazon product, “Alexa”, has been emitting creepy laughter in the middle of the night without being prompted. Jimmy Kimmel included a segment about it on his show.
Alexa also emits wireless (WiFi) radiation. Health professionals and media sources encourage everyone – not just sexy people like Tom Brady and his supermodel wife, Giselle Bundchen – to turn off electronics and other wireless-emitting products while sleeping.
Unprompted creepy laughter in the middle of the night is something most people would prefer living without. All things considered, many of these new tech products seem to be more trouble than they’re worth even to those trying to recycle them and keep them out of landfills.
According to research, they can also age us faster. Who wants to look or feel older? Is it really necessary to ask Alexa about that?
For more articles that reference e-Waste:
- Electronic Waste Study Finds $65 Billion in Raw Materials Discarded in Just One Year
- Electronics OEMs Barely Get Passing Grade for Sustainability
- When will Samsung announce something that actually matters?
- See Inside The Hellish E-Waste Dumps Where Old Electronics Go To Die
- IoT will exponentially increase use of devices, but what about e-waste?
- Tesla Cars Are Great – Their Ecosystem Strategy Not So Much
- Microwaves could be as bad for the environment as millions of cars suggests new research
- Microwave ovens and small electrical appliances are harming the environment says study
- Are Microwaves Really as Bad for the Environment as Cars?
- Tsunami of data’ could consume one fifth of global electricity by 2025
- What Chinese import policies mean for all 50 states
- Apple finds supplier problems as its audits expand
- Apple axed 10 smelters and refiners from supply chain in 2017. Maintains 100% participation in conflict mineral audit
- Delhi sitting on garbage time bomb, but govt not concerned, says SC
- How digital dumps imperil the future
- Sealed-in batteries in small electronics—an unsustainable consumer protection method
- E-waste is releasing toxic chemicals into soil in India’s metros, says study. Environment ministry-funded study.
- Improper disposal of these electronic wastes can affect soil, air, and water
- China places battery recycling responsibility on car manufacturers
- Green activists disrupt tech conference
- New EU hub on how best to recycle electronic waste
- European industry launches new online WEEE platform
- Will Asia’s Rise Mean the Wreckage of Planet Earth?
- Kenyans choke up tonnes of e-waste as bill gathers dust
- Precious metals inside old gadgets could be worth a fortune
- Space Waste & Debris: The Biggest Problem We Can’t See?
- Trouble in orbit: the growing problem of space junk
- The Looming Space Junk Crisis: It’s Time to Take Out the Trash
- Space Junk Jeopardizes Earth’s Space Environment
- The Truth About E-Waste: What Really Happens to Electronic Waste After Westerners Dump it in Africa
- Dispose e-waste with care: Hong Kong to start ‘producer pays’ scheme for 70,000 tonnes generated in city annually
- Welcome To The Era Of Self-Destructing Gadgets, From Phones To Drones
- Singapore’s mountain of e-waste
- Bamako Convention: Preventing Africa from becoming a dumping ground for toxic wastes
- What Happens When One Of The World’s Biggest Cities Doesn’t Recycle
- Australian ‘micro-factories’ turn e-waste into high-value 3D printer filament
- Leaders unite to fight waste and pollution
- Is recycling only a Band-Aid? The TerraCycle CEO thinks so — and has plans to change the equation
- Recycling of electronic waste can be made circular
- The Global E-waste Monitor 2017, a joint effort of the ITU, the United Nations University (UNU) and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA
- The Global Risks Landscape 2018
- Hazardous e-waste is contaminating Delhi’s groundwater and soil
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