Earthcharter

Going for Olympic Green

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 20:42

Over 11,000 computers are thrown out daily in the United States alone, and 40 million tons of electronic waste are produced globally each year. The disposal of old computers and electronics sends an immense amount of toxic waste to landfills and overseas where it is often improperly disposed of, contaminating soil and groundwater and poisoning people. As you might imagine, this is not the best solution for the disposal of e-waste, especially when the circuit boards and cathode ray tubes contain toxic metals like lead, and precious metals like gold.

One superior, although unusual, solution is the effective recycling of old electronics to extract both toxic and valuable components, and to turn them into gold, silver, and bronze medals for the Olympics. This year, in an effort to support global sustainability, the Vancouver Olympics have incorporated gold recovered from electronic waste into the medals that are being presented at the ceremonies. To learn more about the design of the medals and the e-waste recycling component watch the video from Motherboard below.

You can also watch a short documentary on how e-waste should not be disposed of here:

In the U.S., a number of states have passed legislation requiring electronics manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their lives. Find out if your state is one, or what you can do to support e-waste legislation.

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