A
Arthur Entlich
A list of options and considerations when trying to determine if you
really need that new super-duper upgrade.
E-waste is a huge issue, involving million of tons of goods, most of
which use energy dense manufacturing techniques, substantial materials,
weight, volume, and shipping histories, (all of which are resource
demanding) and use of processes which involve toxic materials during
manufacture or left behind in the devices themselves when they are
discarded.
The questions that we should each be asking when we consider replacement
of a printer (and with adaptation of these questions, with many other
electronics) are:
1) Is the improvement in speed, quality or convenience enough to justify
the costs (financial, environmental, etc) and the likely increased cost
in the use of the item/printer over an older version? (with printers in
specific, the cost of ink or toner is likely higher than with older
models, due to use of smaller cartridges, added technology to block
refilling, poorer yields, or patent protection which can prevent the
introduction of 3rd party consumables).
2) If the item is not working at its peak, can it be repaired or cleaned
to make it work as it did when new, and would this be enough to make it
a keeper for a while longer?
3) Keep in mind that some newer products require upgrades in OS software
or other hardware to operate or use advanced features, which may mean
additional costs, and more e-waste for little benefit.
4) Can the older model be used by someone else your know (family member,
school, etc) or in a different function that is desirable or needed or
can it be sold to someone who doesn't need as good a product as you do?
5) Do you have a freecycle list (freecycle.org for a full list, they are
all over the world now) or similar service in your area where you can
offer the item for free to someone out there to repair, use for parts,
etc. Or is there a program that takes these as donations where they are
refurbished and redistributed?
6) Do you have a recycling service locally which can refurbish parts or
dismantle and recycle the components? Some governments have now gone to
a taxation system which charges on new units and uses the money to offer
"free" end of life services to pay for recycling. Some charities run
drives collecting older e-waste and determine what can be refurbished or
used or sold, and the rest is taken apart and properly recycled and
disposed of.
7) Does any retailer in your area offer a trade in or recycling program
or does any manufacturer offer such a service. These services may cost
a fee for shipping and often do require a lot of shipping, which is
energy dense, so I place this option lower on the list. More local
options usually are better.
8) If there is absolutely no service for recycling, check with local
solid waste providers about toxic materials disposal that may be related
to the product.
9) If you wish to sell, trade, offer or discard a product containing a
hard drive, rather than removing and destroying the drive for security
reasons, consider downloading and using a free program that can
overwrite the drive many times to make any data non-readable even by
forensic data recovery services/programs. Many refurbishing services
(charitable, free or for profit) are finding the lack of working hard
drives has become a major barrier to them being able to clean up and
redistribute computers they receive.
Art
really need that new super-duper upgrade.
E-waste is a huge issue, involving million of tons of goods, most of
which use energy dense manufacturing techniques, substantial materials,
weight, volume, and shipping histories, (all of which are resource
demanding) and use of processes which involve toxic materials during
manufacture or left behind in the devices themselves when they are
discarded.
The questions that we should each be asking when we consider replacement
of a printer (and with adaptation of these questions, with many other
electronics) are:
1) Is the improvement in speed, quality or convenience enough to justify
the costs (financial, environmental, etc) and the likely increased cost
in the use of the item/printer over an older version? (with printers in
specific, the cost of ink or toner is likely higher than with older
models, due to use of smaller cartridges, added technology to block
refilling, poorer yields, or patent protection which can prevent the
introduction of 3rd party consumables).
2) If the item is not working at its peak, can it be repaired or cleaned
to make it work as it did when new, and would this be enough to make it
a keeper for a while longer?
3) Keep in mind that some newer products require upgrades in OS software
or other hardware to operate or use advanced features, which may mean
additional costs, and more e-waste for little benefit.
4) Can the older model be used by someone else your know (family member,
school, etc) or in a different function that is desirable or needed or
can it be sold to someone who doesn't need as good a product as you do?
5) Do you have a freecycle list (freecycle.org for a full list, they are
all over the world now) or similar service in your area where you can
offer the item for free to someone out there to repair, use for parts,
etc. Or is there a program that takes these as donations where they are
refurbished and redistributed?
6) Do you have a recycling service locally which can refurbish parts or
dismantle and recycle the components? Some governments have now gone to
a taxation system which charges on new units and uses the money to offer
"free" end of life services to pay for recycling. Some charities run
drives collecting older e-waste and determine what can be refurbished or
used or sold, and the rest is taken apart and properly recycled and
disposed of.
7) Does any retailer in your area offer a trade in or recycling program
or does any manufacturer offer such a service. These services may cost
a fee for shipping and often do require a lot of shipping, which is
energy dense, so I place this option lower on the list. More local
options usually are better.
8) If there is absolutely no service for recycling, check with local
solid waste providers about toxic materials disposal that may be related
to the product.
9) If you wish to sell, trade, offer or discard a product containing a
hard drive, rather than removing and destroying the drive for security
reasons, consider downloading and using a free program that can
overwrite the drive many times to make any data non-readable even by
forensic data recovery services/programs. Many refurbishing services
(charitable, free or for profit) are finding the lack of working hard
drives has become a major barrier to them being able to clean up and
redistribute computers they receive.
Art