Josh Lepawsky's Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong

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Jim Lynch

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May 22, 2018, 1:38:24 PM5/22/18
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I just came across a great piece on some rarely discussed aspects of e-waste and electronics recycling and reuse by one of the few academic researchers looking in to the global flows of e-waste, Josh Lepawsky, Associate Professor of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has attended our Electronic Reuse Conference. I hope he does again. Find the article at:

Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong
http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/almost-everything-you-know-about-e-waste-is-wrong/

He covers the environmental costs of mining, manufacturing, and the use phases of electronics.

-jim


Nancy Jo Craig

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May 22, 2018, 2:35:11 PM5/22/18
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His book is great, some of the finest thinking and writing on e-waste I have come across. It is very scholarly and well researched. Blows away a lot of myths about e waste. 

Nancy Jo Craig
CACRC

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Jim Lynch

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May 22, 2018, 2:40:39 PM5/22/18
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From: <refurb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Nancy Jo Craig <njc...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "refurb...@googlegroups.com" <refurb...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 11:35 AM
To: "refurb...@googlegroups.com" <refurb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Refurbishers List] Josh Lepawsky's Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong

 

His book is great, some of the finest thinking and writing on e-waste I have come across. It is very scholarly and well researched. Blows away a lot of myths about e waste. 

 

Nancy Jo Craig

CACRC

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 12:38 PM, Jim Lynch <jly...@techsoupglobal.org> wrote:

I just came across a great piece on some rarely discussed aspects of e-waste and electronics recycling and reuse by one of the few academic researchers looking in to the global flows of e-waste, Josh Lepawsky, Associate Professor of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has attended our Electronic Reuse Conference. I hope he does again. Find the article at:

 

Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong
http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/almost-everything-you-know-about-e-waste-is-wrong/

He covers the environmental costs of mining, manufacturing, and the use phases of electronics.

 

-jim

 

 

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Lou August

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May 22, 2018, 4:00:49 PM5/22/18
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Thanks JIm, 

I"m already forwarding your article.  Sadly, I believe the poor in the developing world suffer the greatest from the dis-information campaign about computer re-use that this article only begins to address.  There seems to be a universal interchange in many areas of the developing world between the word "Dumping" and "Computer Reuse."   Its a form of electronic colonialism that has skewed an entire hemisphere's perception of reality, and left their students and schools behind in the 21st century economy. 

Thank you for the important work you do!
Lou

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 2:40 PM, Jim Lynch <jly...@techsoupglobal.org> wrote:

Just adding that Josh Lepawsky’s new book is:

Reassembling Rubbish: Worlding Electronic Waste (MIT Press)

 

https://www.amazon.com/Reassembling-Rubbish-Worlding-Electronic-Waste/dp/0262535335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527014244&sr=8-1&keywords=Josh+Lepawsky

 

-jim

 

From: <refurb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Nancy Jo Craig <njc...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "refurb...@googlegroups.com" <refurb...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 11:35 AM
To: "refurb...@googlegroups.com" <refurb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Refurbishers List] Josh Lepawsky's Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong

 

His book is great, some of the finest thinking and writing on e-waste I have come across. It is very scholarly and well researched. Blows away a lot of myths about e waste. 

 

Nancy Jo Craig

CACRC

On Tue, May 22, 2018 at 12:38 PM, Jim Lynch <jly...@techsoupglobal.org> wrote:

I just came across a great piece on some rarely discussed aspects of e-waste and electronics recycling and reuse by one of the few academic researchers looking in to the global flows of e-waste, Josh Lepawsky, Associate Professor of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has attended our Electronic Reuse Conference. I hope he does again. Find the article at:

 

Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong
http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/almost-everything-you-know-about-e-waste-is-wrong/

He covers the environmental costs of mining, manufacturing, and the use phases of electronics.

 

-jim

 

 

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Lou August
Executive Director
Wilderness Technology Alliance (WTA)

Alex Tabony

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May 22, 2018, 4:57:46 PM5/22/18
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Very interesting article. One thing that is really bothering me lately is the need for upgrading phones due to a lack of security updates on past models. I find myself needing to buy a new phone since the vendor no longer wishes to provide the security updates for it and no realistic 3 party rom. I'm excited for Treble ( https://www.androidauthority.com/project-treble-818225/ ) which potentially gives us a hardware abstraction layer and presumably means a phone can be used until its truly obsolete or broken rather than effectively planned obsolescence.

Not the same situation but feels similar to when people started moving from desktops to laptops. Starting around, what, 8 years ago a desktop could last a long time and had great refurbish potential whereas laptops life spans are so short and pretty much junk after a few years or a drop.

I can't imagine many share my thoughts but it makes me sad to see people sitting in a cafe with shiny new macbooks. I can't help but to think of the materials and energy consumed for a device with such a temporary lifespan. And don't even get me started about glass phones...

On a brighter note, I am glad to see somewhat of a backlash against glass phones and Treble coming around. I wish we had a way of quantifying environmental costs in our consumer society so that people are more aware of the impact of their buying decisions. Put a label on everything with its carbon cost.

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Alex Tabony, Executive Director
Computer Technologies Program
www.ctpberk.org
510 849-2911
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