In our world today, it is hard to go through the day without using or being in need of a 21st century technology. It is tough to imagine life without technology tools. Despite the fact that computers and other technologies are getting more and more popular everyday and become highly demanded, it is also true that their negative impact on the environment are growing as well.  The negative impacts are because computers are not being disposed properly. Instead, they are being thrown out and not recycled. There are a lot of  harmful substances found in computers that cause harm to the environments. They include Lead, Mercury, Cobalt, Cadmium, Arsenic, Selenium and much more. Just think, if all these chemicals plus more are disposed into the earth daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly,  the damage that is caused can be drastic.

DID YOU KNOW...?

The average 24 kg desktop computer with monitor requires at least 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture. A 17-inch CRT monitor uses at least 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals and 1,500 kg of water – a total of 1.8 tones of materials. These companies use significant energy in the production and operation of these computers. One of the major impact that the production of computers are having on the environments is possible long-term health effects on workers, families, and neighboring community because of chemical exposure and emissions from some toxin and highly chemical production stages. The main risk of exposure is most likely from computers that have been dumped in landfills or from environmentally unsafe recycling processes in the developing countries. For more information on this particular topic visit http://update.unu.edu/archive/issue31_5.htm