Posted on 05/24/2005 3:57:12 PM PDT by Mike Bates
A group of legislators on both sides of the Washington aisle vowed on Tuesday to create a national plan for dealing with an alarming byproduct of the country's voracious appetite for electronics--mountains of potentially toxic waste.
To that end, four lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives have formed the Congressional E-Waste Working Group. The group intends to build broad political support for a national law to reduce high-tech garbage--a cause that has been largely ignored in Washington. Leading the group's charge are Representatives Mike Thompson, a California Democrat; Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a California Republican; Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York; and California Republican Mary Bono.
"The result of the working group...would be a national bill that everyone would have to comply with in regard to this issue," Thompson said in an interview following the working group's news conference.
More than 50 million computers containing lead, mercury and other toxins find their way into the trash every year, the working group said. Every day in the United States, people throw out 3,000 tons of computers, with the life of the average machines spanning just two years, the group added.
Environmental group Greenpeace offers an even grimmer picture. As much as 4,000 tons of high-tech waste is discarded in the world every hour--that's equal in weight to about 1,000 elephants, the group says.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Environmental group Greenpeace offers an even grimmer picture.
I am shocked, shocked.
I don't know about you... but I got about 30Gb of toxic 1's and 0's on my computer that I don't know what to do with... I'm contemplating dumping them down the drain.
I have about the same volume of e-mails from Nigeria offering me huge - is is that hugh? - fortunes.
There's nothing we can't make a law for.
Next thing you know, they'll be making laws about the sizes of toilets. Oh, that's right, they did that already. Never mind.
Uh Oh. Clinton's clean water act put our small water company out of business and doubled our water bill. I wonder what they are going to do my garbage bill.
It is truly sad that so many people don't know just how utterly difficult it is to get lead to dissolve in water. And as for bromine used as flame retardants in printed circuit boards, by the time one of those decomposes in 1000 years, the level of bromine that would ever make it into human systems would be un measurable.
The contact points where the cards fit into the slots on the motherboard - they're pure gold. Reason: Gold does not corrode, and it's the best electrical conductor at room temperature.
Anyway, if you can get your hands on a big pile of junk hardware cards, use a pair of tin snips to cut off the contact surfaces, and then put a pile of them in a hot, hot fire or kiln.
When the plastic completely vaporizes or burns off, you'll have yourself a nice chunk of gold.
As for the remnants of the cards, chuck 'em. They're worthless. LOL
Thanks for the boffo suggestion. I have been looking for something to keep me busy and off the streets at night. This oughtta do it.
Oh, that's a good one.
It's effin' GREENPEACE. They're the same group that was funded by the KGB to try to keep the West from building arms to defend ourselves from Soviet aggression.
Anything that smacks of technology more advanced than stone tools and animal hides makes them fly off into Chicken Little mode. (high-pitched squeaky voice: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!")
Greenpeace is such a bunch of pussies, one of their ships got sunk by the FRENCH Navy! Now that's pretty lame, if you ask me. It's like being a boy in grade school, and getting beat up a girl.
I call it "dumpster mining".
;-D
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.