E-waste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

E-waste - Essay Example Regardless of the efforts by some individuals in reducing the level of e-wastes, it is unlikely that such efforts will solve the problem. E-waste, described as electronic products nearing their useful life is one of the biggest concerns for the environmentalists. Although the term e-waste describes electronic products near their useful life, some of the environmentalists use the term to describe a number of by-products and wastes dumped in the environment. According to Leonard (film), e-waste is any material dumped into the environment and has a negative effect to the environment or negatively affects the health of the people. Any by-product of the manufacturing process such as toxic fumes and wastes dumped into rivers and the soil as well as the unwanted products that consumers dispose of, whether obsolete or useless, according to Leonard (film) is e-waste. This generalization thus encompasses a number of by-products regarded as e-wastes to the environment. Since e-wastes do not dec ompose, they contribute to the biggest crisis facing human beings in this era  (Reinhardt web). Although there are efforts to recycle them, not all of these wastes are recyclable. As such, the only way that people can solve the problem is by reducing the amount of wastes produced and dumped into the environment. ... Different factors contribute to the increased amount of e-wastes in the environment. Although most of the studies concentrate on the effects of dumped e-wastes as the main contributing factors to the e-wastes, Leonard (film) includes all the stages involved in the product life cycle. As Leonard argues, â€Å"in the past decade, the world has used at least one third of the total natural resources†, which portrays a danger in waiting. While the third world countries do not take part in the high level of manufacturing, developed countries such as the united states, after extensively using their natural resources have resulted to the developing countries for raw materials. This balances the level of resources consumption in the world. The manufacturing process is yet another stage that significantly contributes to the high level of e-wastes in the environment. As the process involves the use of toxics, these contribute to the high number of toxic wastes released to the environment . The manufacturing process waste people too as they work in the highly toxic environments. They inhale the fumes from the production process, which contributes to the high levels of cancer diseases. Moreover, the production process releases fumes into the environment as well as effluents that are by-products of the manufacturing process. However, the increased culture of consumerism the world has adopted in the recent past contributes to the high level of e-wastes dumped in the environment. According to Leonard, â€Å"an average us person consumes twice as much as they consumed 50 years ago,† yet there is no way of changing this culture of consumerism in the society. the designing of