Technology and Environmental Issues Thread

[larry98765]

Hi All,

I thought it would be interesting to discuss environmental issues as they relate to technology.

For instance, Disney is starting to rent "self-destructing" DVDs,

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...disney_dvds_dc

which seems to me like a new way to create even more waste, like the countless AOL disks cluttering my front stoop.

Also, does Apple have a program in place for recycling old mac parts?

[Ugg]

I can't believe they'd do that. What a waste.

I don't know about Apple's recycling policy but I believe the EU passed a law requiring manufacturers of electronics to be responsible for the toxic chemicals in the computers they sell.

Where I live, Arcata, CA, you have to pay extra to throw away a computer and none of the thrift shops will take them anymore.

[bbos]

I don't have a comment on this topic but to say I support any means to reuse and recycle to stop the terrible situation our consumer-based society is causing.

Onya people who are already doing something positive!

Cheers,

Brooke

[themacko]

http://www.apple.com/about/environme...recycling.html

Not to mention we live in a "disposable" society where we just throw everything out that doesn't suite our needs anymore. I can remember watching videos on computer recycling and it's a major pain in the butt. It's good that some manufacturers are doing what they can to keep these things out of the landfills.

[symphonix]

At least most Macs can turn into delightful aquariums when they finally die. I don't know what we'll be making out of the current iMac in fifteen years.

[PeaceBomb]

No matter how out of date your computer is there will be someone who could use it, whether it is someone who just want to surf the web and send email or a school in Africa which wants to teach its students programming (both of which can be done on really old hardware).
Why bother with recycling - just pass it on.

[larry98765]

When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, I met an IBM exec in a bar. (They have offices in Bangkok.) He donated ten or so old PCs that I was able to create a computer lab with at the school I taught at. The machines weren't much -- old 386's I think -- but I wrote an English quiz game in Basic that the kids loved.

I also started a computer lab at a San Francisco treatment center for at-risk kids with old macs that people donated. Installed Kid-Pix and we were good to go.

So I know first hand that old computers have a lot of value in the right hands.

Kudos to those organziations that help find homes for these "obsolete" machines.

[baldprof]

I have a three year old CRT iMac which is currently unused. I bought a flat panel last summer.
I plan to donate this to a local university which has a Mac lab. The administrator assures me that it will be well used. One less addition to the land fill.
So what we think we cannot use, someone else may.
And not wanting to be too political here but if we are really serious about rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, how about donating older machines to those people? Does anyone know of an agency that might be doing this?