Question of the Week - Due 1/23/09

[At least 250 words on the Question of the Week topic are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, 1/23/09 for a maximum of 25 points. In addition, you must place links to at least two other articles which you have found in your blog.]

Background: What do YOU do when your cell phone or ipod break ("oops, it fell in the sink when I was brushing my teeth")? Do you throw them in the garbage can? What really happens when you take your old computer to a recycle center? According to a Time magazine article, we throw out more than 130,000 computers and 350,000 cell phones each and every day! This garbage goes to poorer counties, like China, where children are becoming sick from our hazardous waste. Below are some background articles for you.

Time magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1870485,00.html


China's Electronic Waste Village: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1870162,00.html?iid=redirect-ewaste

What Greenpeace has to say: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem

Donating to other countries creates problems: http://www.isa.org/Content/ContentGroups/News/20051/April28/Pintos_Point__The_serious_problems_of_e-waste.htm

Questions: What can be done about e-waste polluting the environment and causing illness? What can you personally do about limiting the amount of e-waste you create? How does e-waste potentially adversely affect our health and the health of those in countries where e-waste is processed? Is sending our electronic garbage to poorer nations just and fair? NOTE: In your answer, you must research and find at least two other articles (in addition to those I've given you above) in web sites to prove your argument. Each electronic citation must be relevant to your answer and is worth a maximum of 5 points (for a total of 10 out of the possible 25 points). Refer to the web sites you cite in your answer.