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why do we spend money on things we want instead of things we need

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Why do we buy things we don't want but buy things we actually need?

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What is a better way to spend our many on useful things?

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I wonder why we use our money on less important things.

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I wonder how many electronics are sold in one year

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I wonder why we need to buy the newest product that comes out if our old one still works.

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I wonder how many electronics were thrown away last year

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It feels as if electronics were made to be thrown out every year, right? From mobile phones that just happen to die right when your contract is over, to televisions that become obsolete as soon as a larger, thinner version debuts.

While the cost of constantly trying to keep up to date with the latest electronics is definitely steep on a household budget, there is a pretty hefty environmental cost, too, that comes along with e-waste.

Most surprisingly of all, though, is the billions of dollars (literally) that goes into landfills each year by carelessly disposing of electronics. Countries are literally throwing away money every day.

E-waste explored

What is considered e-waste? More than just outdated cell phones, e-waste is any electronic waste that is no longer wanted or is now obsolete, whether it works or not. Televisions, old VCRs, DVD players, stereos, copiers, fax machines, tablets, computers, and plenty more electronic devices all become e-waste as soon as they are not wanted anymore.

E-waste isn't always easy and convenient to recycle. Local governments often have e-waste collection days a few times a year, but that means that homeowners have to store the unwanted items in the meantime. Several electronic stores will accept electronics for recycling, but Best Buy - one of the largest e-waste recyclers - just began charging for collection of some electronics, including TV and computer monitors.

E-waste exposed

With lack of ease and possible fees to recycle e-waste, it seems like an uphill battle to tackle this growing waste problem that comes with toxic materials that are thought to be detrimental to human health upon exposure. The following surprising facts about e-waste may help to spur action - both to protect the environment and to stop wasting resources that amount to quite a lot of cash being tossed in landfills each year:

1. The United States produces more e-waste annually than any other country. The amount of electronics that Americans throw away every year? 9.4 million tons.

2. Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year, according to the EPA.

3. For every one million cell phones that are recycled, the EPA states that 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of silver, 75 lbs of gold, and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered. For those not familiar with palladium, palladium is a precious metal using for making electrical contacts, as well as surgical instruments and parts for watches.

4. Only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled, according to the EPA.

5. Based on e-waste disposal rates, Americans throw out phones containing over $60 million in gold and/or silver every year.

6. Recycling circuit boards can be more valuable than mining for ore! One ton of circuit boards is estimated to contain 40-800 times more gold than one metric ton of ore. There is 30-40 times more copper in a ton of circuit boards that can be mined from one metric ton of ore.

7. According to the United Nations, 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste are discarded every year.

8. Old television sets as well as CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors contain approximately 4-8 pounds of lead, a neurotoxin. Improper disposal means this toxic substance can leach into the ground.

9. It takes 530 lbs of fossil fuel, 48 lbs of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor, according to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition.

10. In 2014, 41.8 million metric tons of e-waste was shipped to developing countries, creating not only a dumping problem in those countries, but also utilizing resources to transport the waste to countries around the world.

11. Guiyu, China is a major dumping ground for e-waste from the United States. After the e-waste is transported over to China, the electronics are dumped in the town where it litters the streets and poisons the residents. Hydrochloric acid is thrown on the items to reveal the steel and copper to be reused. High levels of lead have been reported among residents.

12. Not all e-waste recyclers are the same. There are safer ways to recycle e-waste, and then there are companies that simply export the waste to developing countries. Rather than monitoring the recycling of the e-waste for health and human safety standards in these developing countries, many businesses simply have residents disassemble waste and use scrap metal, exposing the workers to toxic materials. Look for an e-waste recycling company that has been vetted through e-stewards.org.

13. It is estimated that only 29% of global e-waste is handled via the accepted best practice recycling channels.

14. Plastics in e-waste can be recycled into garden furniture. Battery components can be reused in other batteries. Metals can be used in jewelry and automotive parts.

15. It is estimated that 40% of the heavy metals in U.S. landfills come from discarded electronics, according to Jonas Allen, Director of Marketing for EPEAT, a global green electronic rating system.

16. According to Allen, if the recycling rates for gold (15%), silver (15%) and platinum (5%) all increased to 100%, the electronics sector could realize $12 billion in financial and natural capital benefits.

17. Approximately 350,000 mobile phones are disposed of each day, according to 2010 figures from the EPA. That equates to more than 152 million phones thrown away in one year.

18. There are more mobile phones in existence than there are number of people living on Earth. Based on the number of active SIM cards in use, there are more than 7.2 billion mobile devices being used, while there are less than 7.2 billion people on the planet. The growth rate of mobile devices compared to the population growth rate is five times greater.

19. The UN University estimates that global e-waste volumes could increase by as much as 33% between 2013-2017.

20. Many major retailers will take e-waste for recycling, regardless of whether you purchased the product from the retailer or not. Among those stores accepting drop-offs are Staples, Verizon, and Best Buy. Always call ahead of time to confirm that stores will accept e-waste and what types of products they will recycle.

E-waste doesn't have to mean 'game over'. Educate yourself on how to properly recycle e-waste. Once you've done that, search our recycle search database for outlets in your area!

To read one man's journey with e-waste, check out this article.
Feature image courtesy of Greenpeace India (Flickr)

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20 Staggering E-Waste Facts - Earth911.com

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It feels as if electronics were made to be thrown out every year, right? From mobile phones that just happen to die right when your contract is over, to televisions that become obsolete as soon as a larger, thinner version debuts.

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I wonder why consumers spend their money the moment they get paid.

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I wonder why consumers always want to buy the most expensive and newest things?

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I wonder what technology consumers will buyin the future?

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I wonder what will life be like without advanced technology?

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I wonder why we spend so much time on things that won't even matter anymore a couple years from now.

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Learn how to identify your iPhone model by its model number and other details.

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I wonder why we always have a desire to buy new technology

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I wonder what'll happen if all the landfills in the world were filled up

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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I wonder why when we always go to the store we have to buy something.

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I wonder why people don't repair things and just throw them out.

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I wonder why we believe disposable products are better than reusable ones?

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I wonder why we always buy something we always wanted but we only wear it like 3 times

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I wonder why we buy stuff that's not even necessary.

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Air Foamposite 1 Supreme Sp "supreme" - Nike - 652792 600 - sport red/black-metallic gold | Flight Club

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Air Foamposite 1 Supreme Sp "supreme" - Nike - 652792 600 - sport red/black-metallic gold | Flight Club is the world's number one sneaker marketplace.

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I wonder why most things we have end up in landfill.

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I wonder why Apple products like iphones and macbooks cost so much

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Apple CEO Tim Cook's keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference on Tuesday was mostly a chance for the chief executive to rehash his well-worn talking points.

He reiterated that Apple's $137 billion in cash is not " burning a hole" in the company's pockets; that Apple believes in cannibalizing its own products before competitors do so; and that building the world's best products is Apple's "North star."

But Cook also addressed a question that most consumers find themselves asking regularly: Why are Apple products so expensive?

His answer -- that Apple doesn't want to sacrifice quality for price -- served mainly to reinforce his argument that Apple values great products over all else. (In typical Apple fashion, he made some half-dozen references to Apple's "magic" or "magical" products.) Yet he also suggested that Apple's innovation and product pipeline is driven at least in part by an effort to produce new gadgets at lower price-levels.

"Instead of saying, 'How can we cheapen the iPod to get it lower?' We ask, 'How can we do a great product and do it at a cost that enables us to sell it at the low price of $49?'" he explained.

Cook noted that tech observers wondered for "years" why Apple didn't offer a Mac for under $1000.

"Frankly we worked on that, but we concluded that we couldn't do a great product. And so we didn't. But what we did do is we invented the iPad," Cook explained. "Now all of a sudden we have an incredible experience that starts at $329. Sometimes you can take the issue or way you might look at an issue and solve it in different ways."

Instead of offering a cheap laptop, in other words, Apple made an expensive tablet.

Of course what Cook didn't choose to highlight were Apple's sizable profit margins on those devices. Apple's third-generation, 64GB WiFi-enabled iPad costs $366 (not including non-manufacturing costs) and retails for $699, earning Apple a profit margin of around 48 percent, according to iSuppli.

As Bloomberg reported earlier this week, Apple's profit margins have been under pressure, and recently dropped back to their 2007 levels, before the launch of the iPhone or iPad. For the last three months of 2012, Apple reported margins of 39 percent, down from 45 percent a year earlier.

The good news is Cook can rely on Apple to cheer him up when he's feeling down.

"If I ever feel I'm dropping down from an excited level, I go into a [Apple] store," Cook said. "It's like a Prozac or something."

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Apple CEO Explains Why Apple's Products Are So Expensive (Sort Of)

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Apple CEO Tim Cook's keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference on Tuesday was mostly a chance for the chief executive to rehash his well-worn talking points.

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I wonder why we spent hours on stuff we don't need.

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Visit the shoppes at Mandalay Place: a unique collection of experiential venues, eclectic stores and one-of-a-kind shoppes

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I wonder why we can't be happy with what we have.

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I wonder why an item is a different price at other multiple store locations.

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I wonder why we always want what we don't have and never value what we have.

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I wonder why we always have the need to buy more stuff?

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The amount of stuff we own these days is staggering.

The average American home size has grown from 1,000 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet. Personal storage generates more than $24 billion in revenue each year. Reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. All while carrying, on average, nearly $15,950 in credit-card debt.

These numbers should cause us to start asking some difficult questions of ourselves. For example, "Why do we buy more stuff than we need?"

I mean, when you really stop to think about it, this becomes a fascinating question. What thinking would compel somebody to spend money on things they didn't actually need in the first place?

If we could successfully answer this question, we could more easily free our lives and our resources for more important pursuits.

But this question can be difficult. It forces us to admit weakness in our lives. Consider some of the lies we have believed:

7 Reasons We Buy More Stuff Than We Need

1. We think it will make us secure. Our logic goes like this: if owning some material possessions brings us security (a roof, clothing, reliable transportation), owning excess will surely result in even more security. But after meeting our most basic needs, the actual security derived from physical possessions is much less stable than we believe. They all perish, spoil, or fade. And they can disappear faster than we realize.

2. We think it will make us happy. Nobody would ever admit they search for happiness in material possessions-we all just live like we do. We buy bigger houses, faster cars, cooler technology, and trendier fashion hoping we will become happier because of it. Unfortunately, the actual happiness derived from excess physical possessions is fleeting at best.

3. We are more susceptible to advertising than we believe. On average, we see 5,000 advertisements every day. Every advertisement carries the same message: your life will be better if you buy what we are selling. We begin to hear this messaging so many times and from so many angles, we begin to subtly believe it. This is not a complete condemnation of the marketing industry. This is simply a call to realize their messaging affects us more than we realize.

4. We are hoping to impress other people. In a wealthy society, envy quickly becomes a driving force for economic activity. Once all of our basic needs have been met, consumption must become about something more than needs. It becomes an opportunity to display our wealth, our importance, and our financial success with the world.

5. We are jealous of people who own more. Comparison seems to be a natural state of our humanity. We notice what other people are buying, wearing, and driving. Our society encourages these comparisons. And all too often, we buy stuff we don't need just because people in our friendship circles have done the same. A culture fixated on praising excess will always misdefine true success.

6. We are trying to compensate for our deficiencies. We mistakenly look for confidence in the clothes that we wear or the car that we drive. We seek to recover from loss, loneliness, or heartache by purchasing unnecessary items. We seek fulfillment in material things. And we try to impress other people with the things that we own rather than the people that we are. But these pursuits will never fully satisfy our deficiencies. Most of the time, they just keep us from ever even addressing them.

7. We are more selfish than we like to admit. It can be difficult to admit that the human spirit is hardwired toward selfishness and greed, but history appears to make a strong case for us. We seek to grow the size of our personal kingdom by accumulating more and more things. This has been accomplished throughout history by force, coercion, dishonesty, and warfare. Unfortunately, selfishness continues to surface in our world and our lives even today.

Excess material possessions do not enrich our lives. In fact, buying things we don't need keeps us from experiencing some wonderful, life-giving benefits. We would be wise to realize the cause and become vigilant in overcoming it.

There is more joy to be found in owning less than can ever be discovered in pursuing more. ( tweet that)

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7 Reasons We Buy More Stuff Than We Need

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The amount of stuff we own these days is staggering. The average American home size has grown from 1,000 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet. Personal storage generates more than $24 billion in revenue each year. Reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago.