Let’s forget about the bottom of the oceans full of plastic and the garbage waste seen on the beaches, or on the other open spaces out there on this beautiful Planet; Another significant issue is the recycling of electronic devices. The development of technology- which we all embraced a lot- did not come without downsides.
I recently re-watched the animation movie Wall-E (2008) on a short flight three weeks ago. What seemed to happen “in a distant future”, in reality, the distance is not as big as predicted, yet it might be right here and right now. “Too much thrash will cover the Earth” one day (a line in the movie)- it is nothing to doubt about it.
As the amount of electronics has been increasing over the past fifty years, the proper and safe disposal of e-waste, became a huge challenge, especially for developed countries. Safe and environmentally friendly disposal of e-waste requires special devices and techniques since they contain hazardous components which can produce pollution and health problems. The global e-waste hub in Guiyu town (China) was by far the most problematic one because the amount of yearly disposal of e-waste was about a million metric tons. Even though the government in China should control the transport of e-waste coming from developed nations, in reality, a large amount of e-waste is smuggled and dumped in mainland sites. People are exposed to toxins and even breathe mercury and fumes, because either they burn them in the open air, or touch them with bare hands while taking them apart in order to keep the small amounts of valuable metals, such as gold, that they were made of. The water became acidic and the air poisoned- so the locals from Guiyu developed a lot of health issues, women were facing miscarriages six times more often than other Chinese populations.
People have the right to a healthy environment, clean water, and unpolluted air. They should not be asked to work without protective equipment, because they put their lives at risk while working with toxic materials. This case raised the issues between rights and justice and also the differences between libertarian and egalitarian forms of justice. While from a libertarian view, people are entitled to what they earn and what they are given, the egalitarian looks for the opportunity which will make them prosper and have the chance for a better life.
Therefore, they chose to dismantle electronic devices instead of working on farms which lead to the conclusion of having a choice based on a lack of education and seen only as an opportunity to make a living, even though that will put their lives in danger. People nowadays tend not to think about the future anymore, living egocentric lives, only for themselves, like is no tomorrow. Hopefully, the new generations will not inherit a lifeless planet and a small robot that tries to tidy up the garbage one by one- like in the movie.
Perhaps, we should learn how to stop and think twice about how much waste we are producing, and how little we care about the planet Earth. Or, the option from the same movie, we can move somewhere else in this galaxy, in a closed artificial space, living a fake life- everything being accessible at a click of a button- and ultimately becoming useless, fat, and incapable to even walk- losing all the abilities and skills.
Express Yourself 