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Electronic waste (or e-waste) is the fastest growing waste stream in both developed and in developing countries. The term 'e-waste' stands for any electrical or electronic appliance that has reached its end-of-life.

As a downside to fast growing technology, the life span of computers has dropped to just two years, and mobile phones have a lifespan of even less than two years. Companies and individuals are more and more tempted to dump their electronic appliances for newer models. Unfortunately this has a direct impact on the amount of generated e-waste per year, which grows more and more rapidly.
What you should know about E-Waste:
More than 50 million tons of e-waste is generated every year with a major fraction finding its way to landfills and dump sites. The major constituent of e-waste is iron and steel (about 50%) followed by plastics (21%), and non-ferrous metals (13%) like copper, aluminum and precious metals like silver, gold, platinum, palladium etc. E-waste also contains toxic elements like lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium and chromium.

And although in this case recycling may seem like the logical solution, but it's still a double edged sword, as recycling techniques for e-waste include burning and dissolution in strong acids with few measures to protect human health and the environment. Inappropriate methods like open burning, which are often used by the informal sector in developing countries to recover valuable materials, have heavy impacts on human health and the environment.

As a matter of fact, E-waste workers often suffer from bad health effects through skin contact and inhalation. Workers, consumers and communities are exposed to the chemicals contained in electronics throughout their life cycle, from manufacture through use and disposal. The incineration, land-filling, and illegal dumping of electronic wastes all contribute toxic chemicals to the environment.

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E-Waste! What is it? And what can we do about it?

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Electronic waste (or e-waste) is the fastest growing waste stream in both developed and in developing countries. The term 'e-waste' stands for any electrical or electronic appliance that has reached its end-of-life.

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Team win

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Westerly Public School System . The senior WIN team started in 2002 and all of the teammates are now in college. The junior WIN team started in 2008 and currently has 6 core members who are all 12th grade students.

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The three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle | Happy Learning ♻️ ♻️ ♻️

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Basically, 3R is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

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We cannot stop waste production entirely, but everyone can make a significant contribution. Think before you bin! It saves energy and natural resources, helps to reduce pollution and reduces the need for landfill.

The 'Reduce', 'Reuse' and 'Recycle' elements are referred to as the '3 R's'

Reducing - Try to reduce the amount of waste you produce, as this is the best way to help the environment! If you cannot avoid producing the waste, try...

.. Reusing - Think of ways you could reuse something, like shredding paper for your hamster rather than buying bedding or saving glass jars for storage. If you can not reuse something try...

...Recycling (and composting)
This enables the materials you throw away to be used again by making them into new products.

If items cannot be reused or recycled it is sometimes possible to recover the energy that they contain through a waste treatment process.

At Home

Reduce

Avoid giving presents with excess packaging.

Have a go at making your own presents or cards

Reduce unsolicited mail by registering with The Mailing Preference Service. tel: 0845 7034 599 or write to: The Mailing Preference Service, Freepost 29, LON20771, London, W1E 0ZT Unaddressed Mail - Opt out of Royal Mail deliveries of unaddressed mail that is delivered to every household. To opt out e-mail: optout@royalmail.com.

Consider using doorstep delivery services for organic vegetables, milk and other fresh produce - goods often come in little or returnable packaging Buy solar-powered items such as pocket calculators and watches.

Choose products that can use mains power rather than batteries Use rechargeable batteries when appropriate.

Consider growing your own vegetables - many varieties can be grown in small gardens.

Reuse

Donate unwanted furniture and appliances to a furniture reuse scheme

Get ideas from www.co-oproduct.org on reusing your household packaging and everyday waste materials to make desirable new objects

Repair broken items rather than buy new ones

Take old carrier bags to the shop with you to use again or use them as bin liners

Scrap paper can be used both sides, for children's drawings, shopping lists

Re-use containers like margarine tubs for storage of nails or colouring pencils

Donate unwanted clothing and small household items to charity shops and jumble sales.

Reuse items wherever possible. For example yoghurt pots are ideal for growing seedlings, swap magazines with friends, or give them to surgeries for waiting rooms.

Recycle

If you can, compost your garden waste and vegetable peelings or take your garden waste to a recycling centre

Use local recycling facilities such as glass bottle banks, plastic bottle banks, can banks, shoe banks, textile banks etc

Participate in any recycling service your district or borough council may offer from your home.

Shopping

Shopping provides many opportunities for using your influence as a consumer to purchase low-waste products.

Reduce

If you are buying a computer, enquire whether it can be upgraded easily without the need for a complete replacement. This means you will only need new components rather than a completely new computer.

Many products can be bought loose and in less packaging; DIY products (such as screws and paint brushes); fruit and vegetables; meats and cheese; stationery

Buy concentrated products or products sold in refill packs such as detergents, fabric conditioner, household cleaners and herbs and spices

Avoid buying lots of different cleaning products which are designed for different purposes, choose one multi-purpose cleaner instead

Avoid buying mini portions of food such as cereals, jam and coffee on a regular basis

Use crates to take home your shopping, or support 'bag for life' schemes

Buy re-useable products instead of disposable ones, like rechargeable batteries, plastic picnic tableware instead of paper ones.

Reuse

Buy products made from recycled materials e.g. toilet/kitchen rolls

Reuse carrier bags as bin liners or take your reusable bags with you to the shops.

Recycle

Choose products that come in packaging which you know can be recycled.

Young Families

Reduce

Consider using real nappies rather then disposable ones. It cuts down on waste and can save money too.

Buy fewer baby toiletries; water on it's own or a very mild soap is often sufficient.

Reuse

For babies, consider buying good quality, second-hand clothing and baby equipment

Donate or loan unwanted baby equipment.

At work

There are many ways you can help your employer or business save money on waste disposal costs.

Reduce

Pack your lunch in a reusable box rather than foil or cling film

Avoid wasting paper and other materials - use only what you really need

Encourage your company to adopt waste reduction techniques throughout the organisation

Share memos, journals and other publications rather than everyone having their own copy. Make better use of notice boards for shared information

Avoid using paper when a phone call, e-mail or personal visit might do instead

Only print or photocopy when really necessary - use the double-sided and/or reduction facility whenever possible.

Reuse

Choose refillable items such as printer cartridges, glue etc.

Reuse folders rather then order new ones

Use scrap paper to take notes and messages. If you need to stick them up, sticky tack (such as Blu Tak) can be reused many times.

Recycle

Recycle toner cartridges

Purchase recycled and low waste products. A detailed Guide to Recycled Products is available. See website: www.recycledproducts.org.uk for more information

Recycle cans, plastic and glass bottles, paper, card, etc.

In your garden

Gardeners are very good at finding all kinds of new uses for items that might otherwise end up in the bin. Here are some suggestions:

Reduce

Remember to compost your garden, vegetable peelings and kitchen waste

Only grow what you need.

Reuse

Visit www.nottinghamshire.getcomposting.com or tel: 0844 571 4444 for offers on compost bins and water butts

Empty, cut-down mineral water bottles can be used as mini 'green houses' for young plants

Old carpets, cardboard, newspapers, lawn mowings and shredded prunings make excellent mulch and are useful for killing off weeds

Use old wood and pallets to build your own compost bin.

Recycle

At the garden centre look for products that are made from recycled materials such as plant pots, containers and garden benches made from recycled plastic, recycled paper liners for hanging baskets and compost and soil conditioners made from recycled organic materials.

Green waste is processed at recycling centres to produce a compost soil conditioner called Pro Gro (formerly Naturemix), which is available to purchase at all Recycling Centres

If you're not already recycling, find out more about how easy it is and how you can really make a difference.

There are so many items in your day to day waste that can be recycled and made into something new. Just by putting cereal boxes, cans, paper and ...

Compost produced at home benefits your garden, adding nutrients, improving soil structure, maintaining moisture levels and keeping your soil'...

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We cannot stop waste production entirely, but everyone can make a significant contribution. Think before you bin! It saves energy and natural resources, helps to reduce pollution and reduces the need for landfill. Reducing - Try to reduce the amount of waste you produce, as this is the best way to help the environment!

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・Paul Palmer=Was one of the first people to promote zero waste.

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Paul Palmer, director
Northern California

Paul Palmer is a chemist with a PhD from Yale. After a stint teaching in Turkey and Denmark and some business experience abroad, he came to the Bay Area where he noticed that the newly emerging Silicon Valley was using many chemicals that they were discarding even though they still seemed to be fairly pure. He got a sample of a discarded solvent mixture called "developer/rinse", established that the components were xylene and butyl acetate, realized that both of those solvents were expensive components of lacquer thinner and formed a company to market this perfectly clean "waste product" as lacquer thinner. As the company prospered, they grew to 20 employees and two locations and they learned to make use of every chemical that Silicon Valley discarded. These included such solvents as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, isopropyl alcohol, freon TF (trichlorotrifluoroethane) and acids including hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric and many ancillary products such as gold tabs, silk screens and circuit board scraps. There were etchants like cupric etch, tools such as silver ink, and other chemicals too numerous to mention. When it was learned that perfectly usable laboratory chemicals were being discarded by the carload, the new company began to take all manner of lab chemicals for resale. The company was named Zero Waste Systems Inc. which was the first formal use in the world of the new term Zero Waste. ZWS achieved a worldwide reputation and was the subject of a number of official studies. It was the only company in the world that developed generic methods to reuse all chemicals, rather than just some narrow category. The term Zero Waste has been borrowed by all manner of others to denote many low-level, ineffective and wasteful processes, often referred to as "zero waste to landfill". The reader should not confuse these derivative notions of waste management with the high aspirations of Zero Waste theory presented in this website.

When ZWS ceased operations (for non-business reasons) Palmer continued for twenty years to solve problems that chemical using companies encountered with mistaken mixtures, returned products and off-specification chemicals. He distilled the experience of decades into a book which is sold on this website and created this website to present the methods of Zero Waste to the world.

Here is one fact that should be nagging at anyone reading this page. While ZWS was in business, it took perfectly fine, often brand new and unopened, laboratory chemicals from all over for productive resale. Now that ZWS is not operating, thousands of drums all over the country and the world are being filled up with those same bottles, a filler is added, the drum is closed and the drum with its chemicals is being buried at the bottom of a chemical dump to remain for some unspecified time until something disturbs them, they slowly react with each other, the drum and the bottles are broken and they become "pollution". Why does this happen? Greed, by the garbage companies who are paid enormous sums for burying the chemicals. Collusion, by the regulating agencies who set up this profitable system. Laziness, by the public who just can't be bothered, and irresponsibility by environmentalists who are afraid of solving problems rather than just yelling "toxic warning" at potential members.

When ZWS stopped its work, no one stepped up from the regulators or the public or the chemical users to call for finding some way to continue such a valuable public contribution to avoiding the very source of pollution. Solving problems gets short shrift in our society. It is much better to create problems, then charge money for applying inadequate and ineffective clean ups. What a shame!

ZWI is a non-profit corporation organized in 2007. Like they say, we didn't plan it that way, it just happened. Actually we were under the sponsorship of an umbrella non-profit called Pacific Bridge Institute but we lost the connection. Do you swing a non-profit that could sponsor us under your tax deductible status? We meet all the criteria but need the formal designation. Until then, donation and membership checks should be made out to Paul Palmer and mailed to:

Zero Waste Institute

4019 Cervantes Ct.

Vacaville CA 95687

The Zero Waste Institute has developed and pioneered a form of survey that belongs in every Environmental Impact Report except that waste is so ingrained in this society that eliminating is not considered a positive goal. But it is and should be. We are available to do a Zero Discard Impact Report for your business.

Re ceived funds will be used wisely and well for promoting Zero Waste, you may be sure.

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The Zero Waste Institute - Click to start

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Paul Palmer, director Northern California Paul Palmer is a chemist with a PhD from Yale. After a stint teaching in Turkey and Denmark and some business experience abroad, he came to the Bay Area where he noticed that the newly emerging Silicon Valley was using many chemicals that they were discarding even though they still seemed to be fairly pure.

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Newsela | Is it possible to create zero waste?

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O ne of the the things that can cause the greatest problems in the environment is e-waste , which is 70% of our waste, half of our waste, if not more! E-waste can include all of the computers...

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Notes for Teen Activism E-Book (fireball)

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Alex Lin was a boy who was just reading the newspaper one day. He read an article about something called e-waste. He learned that it is the waste generated as people upgrade electronic devices. When people are done with things like computers, phones, mp3 players, etc. and throw them away, that's e-waste. He also learned that e-waste is dangerous to the environment. Yet this was not something that was not widely known. Alex decided to do something about it.

To help stop e-waste, Alex got help from his community service group, the Westerly Innovations Network (WIN). WIN spread the message about e-waste and gave people a chance to recycling and refurbish it instead. Before long, Alex and WIN were saving thousands of pounds of e-waste from being thrown away! They helped recycle e-waste and refurbish computers to donate to those in need in America and in other countries. Alex and WIN are helping save the environment, one old computer at a time! This video tells all about Alex's great efforts.

Additional Resources:

Here is an article about Alex and his efforts.

Here is an interview with Alex.

Click here for more InspireMyKids stories about the environment.

Find great books in our store, like Acting for Nature, about how children can help the environment.

This video is about recycling e-waste.

Topics for Discussion:

Think about all the electronics families have. How often do they get replaced? Where do the electronics go after the family is done with them?

One of Alex's inspirations is the quote "Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Are there any "brick walls" in your life that you can get past if you just work harder on them?

Take Action:

Talk to family and friends about the danger of e-waste and tell them to recycle their old electronics!

Check out the Environmental Protection Agency website for information about how you can help recycle e-waste!

Teacher Features:

Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for elementary school students.

Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for middle school students.

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Alex Lin - Turning E-Waste Into E-Treasure - InspireMyKids

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Alex Lin was a boy who was just reading the newspaper one day. He read an article about something called e-waste. He learned that it is the waste generated as people upgrade electronic devices. When people are done with things like computers, phones, mp3 players, etc. and throw them away, that's e-waste.

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Alexander Lin - speech at Brower Youth Awards 2007

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Alex Lin Helps Reduce E-Waste⎢TakePart TV

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Alex Lin has turned 300000 lbs of E- waste. he used computers to create a media center at countries like Cameroon and Sri Lanka.

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Young people have a unique relationship with the environment: They are often the first affected when something goes wrong, yet the least represented when decisions are made.

They, more than any other generation, have been raised to feel a responsibility toward the environment. And that's important because they will be the first generation in charge of correcting the problems caused by the widespread pollution of the atmosphere and rampant misappropriation of natural resources.

Youth today feel the "clock is ticking in terms of the amount of time we have to deal with the major issues like clean air, clean water and global warming," says Sharon Smith, program director of Brower New Leaders at the Earth Island Institute, a support group for youth environmental campaigns and initiatives.
Growth in activism
Smith has seen firsthand the growth in environmental activism. "I graduated from college in 1999, and right in my first year out of college I went to an eco conference, which at that time was held in the Northeast. It was one of the largest environmental youth conferences held to date, and it had about a thousand people."

Contrast that with a 2009 conference that drew 12,000 young people from all 50 states, she said. "You can really see the growth of the environmental movement even over the past decade by looking at these conferences and the trainings designed and led and initiated by young people."

Canon Envirothon has seen similar growth in youth activism. A nonprofit specializing in the delivery of environmental education for high school students, the program has grown from three states in 1988 to 54 states and provinces in North America today.

Young people are "looking for avenues where they can make a difference and become knowledgeable, and then they can take and share that knowledge and experience," said Clay Burns, executive director of Canon Envirothon in Mississippi. They need to be "willing and prepared to work toward achieving and maintaining a balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment."
Raising new leaders
But an increase in youth activism is not enough to stave off environmental peril - we need new ideas and new leaders, according to Eban Goodstein, economics professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., and co-director of the 2009 National Teach-In on Global Warming, a nationwide network of teachers at all educational levels that, on Feb. 5, engaged more than a million Americans in a "solutions-driven dialogue."

Eban says the U.S. must act aggressively in the next year or so to reduce global- warming pollution and invest in clean energy technologies or "you guys are going to be looking at a very different world in 2050," when the world will be 3 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher.

"To put that number in perspective, during the last Ice Age, it was only nine degrees Fahrenheit colder than it is on average today," he explained.

Goodstein says youth need to move beyond being the front lines of environmental activism to being the visionaries. Both the Brower New Leaders and Canon Envirothon have devoted more than two decades training them to do just that.

Earth Island Initiative was founded in 1982 by renowned environmentalist David Brower to support young people who have new strategies for saving the earth. In 2000, the organization started the Brower Youth Awards, which honor six youth ages 13 to 23 each year for their leadership and activism with a gala ceremony, campout and $3,000 prize.

"We felt like young people so often are sort of the workhorses of these campaigns and aren't always recognized, aren't always supported at a critical time in the development of their careers, in the development of their activism," Smith said.

The Canon Envirothon also honors young environmentalists in a yearly competition that engages more than 500,000 high school students throughout North America. The Envirothon works in partnership with local conservation districts, forestry associations, educators and natural resource agencies to organize and conduct competitions on the local, regional, and state and/or provincial level. This year's hands-on problem-solving competition is Aug. 2-6 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where local finalists will compete for recognition, scholarships, and prizes.
Issues addressed
While recycling clubs abound at all age levels, more and more youth are expanding their efforts in other directions. In Massachusetts, young people involved in Gardening in the Community promote organic gardening and bicycle use. In Florida, a young man developed an interactive curriculum to educate youth about the plight of loggerhead turtles. In California, youth helped pass a bill requiring cosmetic companies to alert the Department of Health if their products contain carcinogens.

These are just a few examples. Youth across the country are cleaning up local wetlands, shutting down toxic waste sites, promoting clean energy and combating landfills. They have educated their peers, parents and the public on carbon emissions, reusable goods and conservation of resources.

Brower New Leaders have dealt with many such issues, and the Earth Island Institute currently oversees 60 projects, ranging from "Project Coyote" to the "Sacred Land Film Project," in 26 countries worldwide.

Students involved in Canon Envirothon pay special attention to natural resources, specifically those related to soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry and wildlife.

"Conservation is the big thing that we're involved in," Burns said, explaining that such work is more grassroots, and thus a more viable venue for youth activism.

And while most youth activism is local, many are entering the political realm to effect long-lasting change.

"There's a recognition that this is a time when we need major action from government if we're going to sort of lay the foundation and give you guys the tools that you're going to need to transform the world," Goodstein said.
New worldview coming?
Goodstein envisions a day soon when people automatically think about the environmental impact of their actions before they act. "We'll move on to a phase where we just sort of naturally mimic nature and create things that are in harmony with nature and don't produce waste and pollution."

Smith shares his optimism because she's seen the changes enacted by the youth involved in her program. "Just this year we were looking at the past 10 years of awardees, and at least 87 percent of our award recipients are still in leadership roles in the environmental movement. So it's a great sign that these young folks were committed when they applied to do this work and that hopefully the support we provided ensured they could stay committed and rise as leaders," she said.

The presidency of Barack Obama gives more reasons for hope. "It's rejuvenated the environmental movement in a number of ways," Smith said. "People have been really hitting their heads against the wall for eight years trying to push forward environmental initiatives."
Click here to read these Y-Press profiles:
Grind for the Green, San Francisco, CA
Urban Roots, East Austin, TX
West Oakland Urban Students Uprising against Pollution, Oakland, CA
Click here to read how students at two high schools are recycling and promoting environmentalism.

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Researchers from the United Negro College Fund went to West Virginia last year and asked 62 high school dropouts in the federal Job Corps program a simple, open-ended question. ¨What was it about school,¨ they wanted to know, ¨that caused you to quit?¨