E-waste is a collection of discarded electronics. It is becoming such a large environmental problem because there are a lot of precious resources inside of electronics that are either hazardous themselves or have a very toxic extraction process. To get an idea of how much get thrown out, in the main video it is stated that the United States throw out 130,000 computers a day. 100,000,000 Cell Phones are also thrown out every year in the United states alone.
E-waste is shipped overseas because the price it ti bought at is much lower than the cost of recycling it at home.
In Guelph one can bring e-waste to most Best Buys and Staples stores.
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No, I do not think people of third world countries should have poison as an alternative to poverty. E-waste can be very toxic(60 minutes video), and when not handled properly even more so. In China the poverty line is about $2 a day(Jennings, Forbes), and considering that the e-waste recyclers said they make about $8 a day, they are above this line. These people are being paid what to them is good money for destroying their health and I don’t believe that choice should be allowed to be made as it damages them and the environment. With the pay of $8 a day there is ample room for jobs lower than that but still above the poverty line. This is necessary so that if these jobs are removed the workers can still keep working, trading pay for safer working conditions. Therefore I believe the choice should be taken away and replaced with safer alternatives.