Film: CBS 60 Minutes: The Electronic Wasteland

This picture is an example of one of many electronic wastelands located in China.

INDD 508 Materials and Processes

CBS 60 Minutes: The Electronic Wasteland

Three Sustainable Strategies:

• Implementing Intelligent Product Systems which involves grouping products into distinct categories to help move away from the current system of production and consumption which is primarily a result of the Industrial Revolution.
• Up-cycle products that are recycled rather than down-cycle them. Today, products are generally considered to be down-cycled since they tend to lose their material quality during the recycling process.
• Cradle-to-Cradle Protocol which involves making products easy to assemble and disassemble which will not only reduce waste, but help companies save money in production and recycling costs.

Reflection Paragraph

Technology has progress so far, yet the process of organizing waste and the recycling of products has remained so primitive in comparison. This is obviously a major issue, not only to the environment, but to all living things including humans not only in the present, but also in the future. We are once again reminded of how primitive our methods of waste control and recycling are as the reporter calls attention to a Chinese worker using a medieval method of metal extraction on a circuit board. The process is noted as being dangerous, which is evident by the claims the workers make about how their health has been affected by working in the wasteland. I would say one of the more striking pieces of information in the film was when it was stated that it takes approximately fifty thousands pounds of material to construct a three thousand pound car. It is nearly unimaginable how so little could come out of so much. It really shows how the level of efficiency in product production is way behind and how wasteful we are as humans.