Electronics · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts tagged with electronics

Score one for PCs

by Katie Kish · 04/10/07

Health Hazards in Electronics:

· Some brominated flame retardants, used in circuit boards and plastic casings, do not break down easily and build up in the environment. Long-term exposure can lead to impaired learning and memory functions. They can also interfere with thyroid and oestrogen hormone systems and exposure in the womb has been linked to behavioural problems.
· As much as 1000 tonnes of a brominated flame retardant called TBBPA was used to manufacture 674 million mobile phones in 2004. This chemical has been linked to neurotoxicity.
· The cathode ray tubes (CTR) in monitors sold worldwide in 2002 contain approximately 10,000 tonnes of lead. Exposure to lead can cause intellectual impairment in children and can damage the nervous, blood and reproductive systems in adults.
· Cadmium, used in rechargeable computer batteries, contacts and switches and in older CRTs, can bioaccumulate in the environment and is highly toxic, primarily affecting the kidneys and bones.
· Mercury, used in lighting devices for flat screen displays can damage the brain and central nervous system, particularly during early development.
· Compounds of hexavalent chromium, used in the production of metal housings, are highly toxic and human carcinogens.
· Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration (or simply burning). These chemicals are highly persistent in the environment and many are toxic even in very low concentrations.

Greenpeace has an extremely informative section on their website about electronics. Recently they have released their third discussion and break down on where companies stack up in regards to being green. I always knew there was another better reason as to why I haven’t liked using macs…

adults, batteries, BPA, car, children, Dioxin, electronics, estrogen, fur, health, kidney, Lighting, plastic, produce, Recycling, resources, spa, Target, waste

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like…Consumerismtime!

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by Starre Vartan · 12/11/06

Unlike my craftier sisters, I don’t start making gifts in October. I also refuse to make exhaustive lists of people and gift ideas and plan shopping excursions to find just the right piece of junk to wrap in expensive paper that will exist, perfectly preserved in a landfill until the aliens come.

I’m a last-minute gift-buyer, and proud of it! (Because I’m tired at being annoyed with myself. So I’m embracing my late-shopping tendencies). The last few years I usually haven’t started shopping until around the 15th, and that date is coming up quickly. So here’s my exhaustive list for gifts that won’t take too much time to get but won’t rip a whole in the atmosphere or poison a town’s water supply either.

(Don’t forget that gifts of time or experiences–a nice dinner, babysitting for a harried new parent, or a free closet organizing– can be the best and cheapest gifts of all; I especially like giving a dinner out, so I can enjoy it too!)

Sometimes you need to give something in a (recycled) box, tied with a (reused) ribbon. Here are my choices for Gifts You Can Put in a Box Under the Tree:

Pangaya has a green gift guide for easy picking and choosing of lovely eco-fashionista duds. Have all your selections shipped directly to gift recipients so you don’t have to. Double-shipping- having gifts shipped to you, then shipping them to recipients, should BE AVOIDED at all costs! Just think of all the fossil fuel needed to ship something twice….(There is free shipping on all orders through 12/17/06. Also, check out the Pangaya blog– there are great discounts and specials every day advertised there.)

The t-shirts at Intention Creations are based on the concepts discussed in “The Secret”, “What the Bleep”, “Ask and It is Given” and a number of other
resources.

Get a solar panel, organic cotton baby toys, or recycled yoga mats at Gaiam (shipping is only $4.95 for all orders.)

Whole Foods (only in Cali) is selling windpower credits on cards.

At Do Great Stuff, you can buy from a lot of mainstream online stores and your commission will go to the non-profit of your choice (perfect for if you’re buying new books or that gadget your Dad really, really wants, and promises to use forever).

The site explains it this way:

Online merchants pay commissions to websites that bring them customers. When you shop at any store in the Do Great Stuff online shopping center, your purchases generate commissions. Most of the commissions we collect go to help non-profit organizations selected by our members. The rest of the commissions are used to pay our overhead, keep our site operational and hopefully someday generate some profits, which would allow us to donate even more money to worthy causes.
For each merchant, we clearly post on our site how much commission will go to the charity of your choice and 100% of that posted amount will go to charity.

The National Wildlife Federation has a whole catalog of gifts that you can browse through, but I really like the pewter ornaments (see above), because for every one you buy, a tree is planted.

Some ideas for Giving a Good Feeling:

I’m adopting a Blue Footed Booby for my Dad, cause he can relate to these guys.

The World Wildlife Fund has an animal-adoption program. When you donate money to your (or your giftee’s) fave animal, they get an adoption certificate, a color photo and an information card about the animal. For donations of $50 or more, you get a plush toy of the animal (and let me just warn you, these are ridiculously cute toys!!).

Greenpeace is just doing some kick-ass work lately. They continue to be a really activist-based group who is out there giving grief to whale hunters and clear-cutters. They are one of the leaders behind the campaign to get Apple and other electronics manufacturers to clean up their act and make their products recyclable (with 1 million iPods selling every week, there’s good reason why).

Give a gift of time or money to your local animal shelter or environmental organization in someone else’s name. Often smaller groups struggle to make ends meet and make important contributions to the land you live on and the water you drink (and save the stray animals in your streets!) Remember, a regular donation monthly (even if it’s just 10 bucks) is better than a one-time donation, and it’s easier on your wallet. Many groups have a set-up so you can automatically debit your checking account on a regular basis.

If you’re not sure where your local animal shelter is, go on Petfinder and put your zip code in; rescue groups and shelter names in your area will come right up.

If you don’t like any of my suggestions, Lime has written a great article, Giving Gone Green that gives some more ideas and advice!

The Center for a New American Dream also has gift ideas and some sound ideas for beating holiday stress.

Animals, atmosphere, Baby, book, books, car, consumerism, cotton, donations, eating, electric, electronics, Fashion, fish, Food, giving, holiday, Home, junk, local, Lush, mainstream, News, Organic, organic cotton, paper, recycle, recycled, resources, reuse, Shopping, t-shirt, t-shirts, treehugger, water, Wildlife, yoga

Consumer Reports Does It in Green

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by Starre Vartan · 08/21/06

A Very Green Kitchen

In my house growing up, no appliance or electronic gadget was bought until Consumer Reports was referenced (our local library had all the back issues and it was my job to find the right one). It seems like many of my friends’ families also had this allegiance to Consumer Reports, so I’m guessing all you Gen X and Yer’s might have had the same experience.

Now that I’m all grown up, with a new dishwasher to buy I figured I should consult the erstwhile publication. (I know, I should just wash dishes by hand. But I HATE dishes with such a passion I can’t even explain it rationally. I’d rather scoop cat litter, take out the garbage or dump smelly compost than do dishes.)

But first, I did an internet search on ‘green dishwashers’, figuring someone may have written an article comparing them, but I wasn’t expecting much. Imagine my pleasant surprise upon finding out that Consumer Reports has applied their awesome testing and ranking system to include the environmentally impactful aspects of all sorts of products– including dishwashers.

Called Greener Choices, this branch of Consumer Reports ranked dishwashers using a system comparing which had the lowest environmental mpact. They looked at how much water each used, how much electricity they sucked, and how effective they were at cleaning dishes, along with price and model info. I was able to find a modestly-priced dishwasher with a very high green score.

They have sections on computers, washing machines and dryers, refrigerators, AC’s, electronics, lawn and garden stuff, and more. For each item they also have information on how to recycle or dispose of it properly, and a guide so that you don’t buy a bigger unit than you need. What a resource! And best of all, it was mentioned that an efficient dishwasher can actually use less water than handwashing dishes, a fact that I will remember approximately forever.

cleaning, electric, electricity, electronics, garbage, garden, Home, local, model, recycle, reference, water

Walmart Going Ga-Ga with Organics

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by Summer Rayne Oakes · 03/24/06

Pretty soon we’ll see a major push from Walmart going organic. Public relations stint or not, this is BIG news given that they have power across borders.

“They have huge potential because it’s not just Walmart we’re talking about, it’s their entire supply chain,” states Jeff Erikson, U.S. director of SustainAbilty Consulting.

What does this mean? That Wal-Mart, as a corporation, can push more on cleaning up the manufacturing side of the table.

What organic products are they offering? Well, the new Dallas Supercenter opened with 400 organic products, ranging from food to baby clothes to home decor. They will be doubling their organic products in the next month and be looking for new items ranging from food to apparel to paper and electronics. This means mountains for supply chains…