It is really amazing how much we depend on electronic devices. We cannot begin to think of the extent of the impact these have on our lives, From wires, light bulbs, cellphones and batteries, computers and other household appliances, electronics have already become an inseparable part of our daily lives.
Any household uses on an average 24 electronic devices at any given time. To add to this we all keep on accumulating more electronic gadgets than we are able to handle.
We all know that many times electronic devices have a limited life period and they are discarded even before their than years.
For instance, it is a known fact that cellphones are not meant to last more than two years.
Comprises of waste generated from used electronic devices and household appliances not fit for their original intended use and are destined for recovery, recycling or disposal
E-Waste contains many substances, most of which are toxic and hazardous for environment and humans.
India generated 1.7 millions tonnes of e-waste in 2014. This is 13 kg of e-waste per capital.
If the current trend of consumption of electronic devices continues, We will be looking at 9 million tonnes of e-waste which is about 6 kgs per capital – this will be the situation by 2030.
The main reason behind the alarming growth in e-waste can be identified as technology and limited life expectancy of these devices.
Another reason for increase in-waste India is that it is an emerging economy. Developing countries like India become dumping ground for e-waste from other developed countries.
A fair amount of e-waste is imported illegally in India because its import has been banned by the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
This illegal Imported e-waste ends up being processed by the informal sector. This sector is not equipped handle the harmful chemicals and toxic elements in the e-waste.
India has become the world’s second largest smartphone market in the year 2019.
We know that a large fraction of energy and resources of the world are involved in the process of making electronics.
Reusing the precious metals and plastic present in the old cellphones alone would save as much energy as the power required by 24,000 homes for an entire year.
With the Indian Government’s plan of a Digital India and fast growth of Indian economy, it is time to make a conscious effort to get the e-waste under control.
How To Control & Reduce E-waste
>>Buying a device with multiple uses
What if we get a single device which has multiple usage?
Don’t you think our time and money and effort to maintain the many devices would be decreased?
Life will be so simple and much more efficient if we have just one device which we have to manage and the rest of all the work is done by that same device.
In the market many devices are available like this.
One eg is ALEXA. Using a single multipurpose device has many advantages like we can save our time, money and effort to maintain as many devices.
>>Extending battery life by avoiding over-charging
We often complain of our electronic devices like mobile phones, chargers, laptops, computers, watches, battery operated lights, etc that they have very low or bad battery backup.
Do you know why does this happen?
The answer to this lies with us only. It is our fault that our electronic devices do not work as much as efficiently as they were meant to be because we use these device so badly, we overcharge them, we use these devices while they are getting charged, sometimes we leave these devices for charging the whole night, etc.
There are many reasons that these devices can get destructed. But the protection of our device depends on our usage, how we keep our device to improve the working capability of our devices.
>>Looking for environment-friendly electronics which are rated with energy stars
Nowadays Refrigerators, A.Cs, etc are manufactured with giving them 3-5 or more stars. This merely means that these devices are able to consume as much as less electricity when compared to the electronic devices that were manufactured earlier.
So whenever we are looking to buy any new electronic device in our home, we should surely look for the number of stars that is given on that particular device.
Try to compare efficiency of different devices with different brands also.
>>Reduce – Reuse – Recycle
This phrase itself is self explanatory. We do not have to take much effort to understand it.
It simply means we should reduce overuse of any electronic device or other devices and things also, if that thing that we used earlier can be replenished again by making some additions in it we should mend it properly and reuse that same old thing or device only and after its complete usage is done we should hand it over for recycling procedure where in the useful parts of the product can be taken out and can be recycled properly.
>>Donate, Give Away or Sell the used electronics because there are always people looking buy them.
We should also try and do some kind of charity because there always some poor and needy people who are looking forward to such kind of opportunities as they are unable to afford things or products which are very common for us in daily life.
Giving away some charity can make us happy and we get blessings of those people also.
>>Organize what electronics items you have because we end up buying more when we had no idea what we have
>>Taking these electronics back to stores if there is a buy back policy.
This is the best thing through which even wastage of that product is avoided and we can also get some handsome amount of money through our old product also.
When each individual decides to practice the above steps it will go a long way in control and reducing e-waste generation.
There are many recycling centers also which are available nearby us. We just have to look for the appropriate venue at the appropriate time.
Various E-waste Management Rules and Amendments were given by Indian Government in 2016.
If you wish to read them, you can click the button below:
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