What Is E-Waste? E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their "useful life." Computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled.

E-Waste Websites: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-e-waste https://www.causesinternational.com/ewaste/what-is- ewaste http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/electronics/whatisewaste/ http://e-stewards.org/learn-more/for-consumers/effects-of- e-waste/who-gets-stepped-on/

11 Facts about E-Waste 11 facts About E-Waste 80 to 85% of electronic products were discarded in landfills or incinerators, which can release certain toxics into the air. E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys. 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year. Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled. For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of silver, 75 lbs of gold, and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered. Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year. E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA. A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery. It takes 539 lbs of fossil fuel, 48 lbs of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor. Electronic items that are considered to be hazardous include, but are not limited to: Televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes, LCD desktop monitors, LCD televisions, Plasma televisions, Portable DVD players with LCD screens.

What are E-Waste Items? The term "e-Waste" is generally applied to consumer electronic devices and gadgets that are near or at the end of its immediate useful life. e-Waste includes discarded or obsolete cell phones, computers, notebooks, computer game consoles and other electronic devices. E-Waste by the Ton in 2010 – Was it Trashed or Recycled (According to the EPA) Products Total disposed** Trashed Recycled Recycling Rate tons tons tons % Computers 423,000 255,000 168,000 40% Monitors 595,000 401,000 194,000 33% Hard copy devices 290,000 193,000 97,000 33% Keyboards and Mice 67,800 61,400 6,460 10% Televisions 1,040 864,000 181,000 17% Mobile devices 19,500 17,200 2,240 11% Total (in tons) 2,440,000 1,790,000 649,000 27

Negative Side Effects of E-Waste:

What are the negative side effects of E-Waste?

How does our E-Waste effect other countries and the United States? Much of the current e-waste generated in rich, developed countries ends up in developing countries where it often poisons people and the environment. Less affluent people and areas of the world get stepped on. While there is an international treaty known as the Basel Convention to prevent this, the United States has not ratified that agreement and has almost no policies or laws in place to prevent e-waste from being routinely shipped off-shore. Even in Europe where such exports are banned, there is far too much illegal traffic in e-waste with enforcement lacking. In the United States, the laws that do exist are often poorly enforced and have allowed dangerous conditions in prisons, abandoned warehouses, and in the operations of irresponsible recyclers where workers are endangered by toxic dust exposure.

The Boomerang Effect Imagine tossing your broken iPad in the garbage. It’s broken, obsolete and you just want it gone. But, out of sight does not mean out of mind – or that it’s gone for good. Irresponsible disposal will come back to haunt you. In one scenario, your iPad is delivered to the local landfill. It might end up in a mountain of increasingly acidic garbage. Over time it corrodes, cracks, and aided by the acidic environment leeches its toxic heavy metals into the landfill. When the landfill lining breaches, those metals find their way into our ground or surface water we drink. Or maybe your iPad is incinerated and all those toxins such as brominated flame retardants become cancer causing dioxins or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, made airborne, settling wherever the wind takes them ultimately ending up in the ecosystem and eventually on your plate or in your glass.

The Boomerang Effect What goes around comes around.  It all comes right back to us. Or, let’s say the e-waste gets shipped away to a place you’ve never heard of in China or Africa. It’s their problem now, right? Not really. The boomerang effect will take this problem right back to your doorstep. How? Much of our food supply comes from China. And much of it from the very same regions (Guangdong Province) where the e-waste is “farmed.” Also, scientists have now tracked air pollution from China across the globe. Pollutants find their way via long-range transport in the upper atmosphere, moving pollutants, like mercury, across the oceans where they fall out in other continents. Ultimately, the cycle brings toxics from your iPad right back to your home. Who Pays? Unless we recycle responsibly, we all pay the price. The environment pays, our loved ones pay, people you’ve never met pay, future generations pay, and you pay. Most often with your health and a degraded environment. Let’s not be indebted for a cost we can avoid. Let’s treat ourselves, our children, and the environment, with respect and dispose of our e-waste the right way.

E-Waste Video Links: E-Waste Hell SBS Dateline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd_ZttK3PuM E-Stewardship Taking Responsibility in the Information Age: https://vimeo.com/10383952 60 Minutes: Following the Trail of Toxic E-Waste: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/following-the-trail-of-toxic-e-waste/ Sims recycling method: http://www.simsrecycling.com/newsroom/video/electronics-recycling E-Waste Management and Processing Techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmZnEd0Lzuc&noredirect=1

PHONE CALL PROCEDURE HI MY NAME IS ________ AND I AM FROM WASHINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL COULD I PLEASE TALK TO A SUPERVISOR? I WAS WONDERING WHAT ITEMS YOU RECYCLE AND COLLECT FOR E-WASTE. E-WASTE IS ELECTRONIC ITEMS SUCH AS PHONES, OLD COMPUTERS WHERE DO THE ITEMS GO AFTER THEY ARE DROPPED OFF AT YOUR STORE? THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

Do we have a problem? Do we need to plan solutions?