E-Waste Management
#passthemic + Podcast #8 with Founder of JEWA and expert Guest Ify Otuya From Nigeria 🇳🇬
Photo by Vilmar Simion
Originally published on Medium.
Let’s dive in or — talk about the importance of reducing E-Waste!
Over the years, electronic waste has increased massively and all of us have contributed in some way or another. We make a lot of e-waste. When electronics end up in landfills, toxins like lead, mercury, and cadmium leach into the soil and water.
The electronic waste problem is huge: More than 48 million tons of e-waste are produced every year. If you put every blue whale alive today on one side of a scale and one year of US e-waste (6.9 million tons) on the other, the e-waste would be heavier.
We all individually and collectively generate a lot of waste, as capitalism is not sustainable because one of its main drives and sources are massive consumerism, violence, and greed. There are very important aspects to consider during this era thanks (not!) capitalist, patriarchy, and white supremacy old system: E-waste is the Toxic Legacy of our Digital Age now. This will only get worse if we are not re-thinking our consumption habits during a climate crisis through a world pandemic.
Our waste electronics are polluting drinking water and harming ecosystems around the world. It’s time to look for solutions and create more awareness plus begin conversations about this matter.
Today, we are #passingthemic and letting the founder of June E-waste Academy — JEWA founder Ify Otuya 🌺 be on our Instagram for a day, and educating us all the way from Nigeria 🇳🇬❤️🙌🏾about #ewastemanagement as this week we are learning and finding solutions together 🌻
Hope you tune in and let’s support a real Queen 👑 and #climateleader ✊🏾🌎💚 Her work has been added into our database if you can, please donate to help her continue to provide educational services in regards to E-waste management and finding solutions together for her community.
We also had a great conversation last week:
S1:E8
We dive first and talk about the usual mantra Recycle, reduce, and reuse … However, really love what Ify mentions in this episode. To Rethink. Because it creates a conscious consumer mindset as you learn to reduce waste too.
Any way you do your part is enough, and we need to start shifting, at least is something I’m going to implement in my daily routines. A minimalistic lifestyle is a really peaceful practice, like meditation and so far less drama and no clutter which is something that has helped reduce climate anxiety and depression during these times.
Because we really need to understand and start being more aware of this. Environmental racism, Social injustice, poverty, hunger, wars, Abuse of Human Rights, and Environment pollution are acts of violence. These induced by an oppressive system's creating fear through any form of media; which then becomes this psychological and generational trauma vibration frequency that spreads as unconscious limited belief, which produces profits for those who highly benefit from our misery. You’ve always had the power and we need to start believing in ourselves more instead of going against each other.
Oftentimes, we don't know where or how our e-waste is recycled!
When you recycle your e-waste with organizations your electronics are broken down so that the reusable materials can be recovered and repurposed in new devices. Facilities that provide these services in your area or city can help in reducing your own e-waste and start creating your own eco-warrior ways ❤ Go for it, we believe in you!.
At the same time, we MUST still hold the companies and corporations responsible primarily for this mess.
E-waste is global.
Some e-waste is shipped overseas, where it is burned for scrap by kids in junkyards. Some don’t know how toxic their job really is.
Even so, encouraging a global market for used electronics does more good than harm:
Repaired electronics give people access to low-cost electronics and help them access the awesome benefits of technology
Used electronics create repair jobs in developing countries that often have few opportunities for skilled labor
Reuse in developing countries is usually more effective than domestic recycling — there’s not much of a market for old cathode ray tube monitors in the US, for example, but they are reused in other countries.
Global consumption of electronics is increasing. Every year we create more e-waste than before. At least 50% of Africa’s e-waste comes from within the continent. China discards 750 million electronic devices a year.
We create (corporations and companies with capitalist old business models) too much e-waste and reuse way too little. We need to change to a circular economy and soon…
2 things to do now and take action advice by our guest today:
Engage standardize recyclers. Recycling companies around your area and check who are their clients. Hold accountable and get more educated about how to locally help your community properly dispose of toxic e-waste.
Get more conversations and awareness about E-waste because it is becoming a huge environmental disaster for those living near the areas of e-waste pollution. And we as collective and conscious human beings can help them and ourselves. We are all connected, what affects and poisons one part of our world, so it will all us eventually too.
Fixing and reusing what we’ve already got just makes sense. We need to embrace sustainability and start being more conscious about our consumptions (re-think) and reduce, recycle and reuse as much as we can.
🌎💚March 19 is Global Day of Climate Action! Yep 🇨🇦! The Youth climate movement + Parents who really give a f%$ and tired of BS😠✊🏾 (amazing talk 18/3/2021 @algore 💚on @climatereality 🌻) are coming together to demand immediate action 🇨🇦🌎🤏🏾 and #nomorebrokenpromises you in? 🙋🏽♀️To celebrate, follow, and support these accounts we love ❤️: @passthemicclimate @blackgirlenvironmentalist @climatelive2021 @latinasforclimate @chicksforclimate @earthrise.studio @intersectionalenvironmentalist @badactivistcollective @climateincolour @goclimate
Join our Global strike on March 19 and demand #NoMoreEmptyPromises More info: fridaysforfuture.org/march19
Don’t forget to register your actions at https://fridaysforfuture.org/action-map/register-report-strikes/
Be kind to your planet, to you, and others.
Love and Light,
_AO🦋
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